Bad Boy
by OffWhiteWalls
Summary: Sakuno has heard the girls categorizing her boyfriend as "bad boy" type, but she can't see which part of Ryoma represents "bad" at all, and bad boy doesn't necessarily make bad boyfriend, right? That is, until a new girl interferes… -ryomaXsakuno-
1. Chapter 1

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**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Hi. To those who have previously found and followed this story Bad Boy by another author Nakano Aika, you won't be mistaken to say that it was originally written by her. Nakano Aika replied to my P.M. and gave me the green light to continue with the story on my own. Therefore, I'm taking it over now, gratefully, with her permission. Credits are attributed to Nakano Aika where they are due. She had also mentioned, that anyone who might be interested in continuing her other story Dirty Little Secret is welcomed to do so. Thank you.

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**Bad Boy**

Chapter One

"Dirty Thoughts"

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"It's a bit lame though, isn't it Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno pondered smilingly. She opened her locker and put her shoes inside. "Instead of _Cinderella_, we could've chosen a more…" she chewed on her lip, searching for the right word. "Mature play instead." she decided.

"Mature?" Ryoma prompted from behind her, and Sakuno thought his voice sounded as if he was smirking. She'd known better. She'd become familiar with that haughty smirk of his these days. Before Sakuno could point it out, she was abruptly swirled around and cornered until her back was pressing against Tomoka's locker, right beside her own. Her hands were deftly held captive by the wrist, before being pressed against the same locker up over her head. Sakuno's eyes gradually widened to the size of a saucepan, no doubt, but Ryoma smiled. And it wasn't an innocent smile either. He leaned down and without bothering asking for permission, lightly brushed his lips on hers. When he captured her mouth with his in a hot, searing kiss, Sakuno's brains practically scattered all over the place. One part of her mind yelled _Oh God! What if somebody sees you! _but another part-which proved to be stronger-cheered _Isn't he just a good kisser? _and then the other part-which was more angelic-admonished _Sakuno! Your thoughts are becoming dirty!_ Well, not that she really minded… Her hands found their way around his neck, pulling him even closer. "Like this?" Ryoma whispered against her mouth.

Sakuno had forgotten what the question was about. She blushed furiously when he broke the kiss and distanced himself so he could look into her eyes.

"Wha-what was it?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"You were talking about mature." Ryoma reminded, amused.

"O-oh." was she? "Oh… Y-yes… _Cinderella_." she mumbled. "It-it's okay, I guess."

Ryoma released her hands, and Sakuno had to keep herself from sighing in disappointment. But then, he reached out and lightly brushed his fingers on her cheek, which reddened instantly at the feathery touch.

"Hn." he said. Sakuno glanced up timidly, thinking he looked pleased. "Do you turn red every time a guy touches you?" he asked.

If not because he sounded genuinely curious, Sakuno would've taken it as an insult.

"T-that's mean." she reported. "A-asking that kind of question, Ryoma-kun, is mean."

"Why?" Ryoma asked. He cupped Sakuno's face with both hands and leaned down until they were looking straight at each other. "_Why_ is it mean?" he demanded in a low voice.

If Sakuno had had any intention of giving him a piece of her mind, it had all vanished. She couldn't breathe at their close proximity. They had been dating for about two months, and she wondered if he enjoyed making her tremble from head to toe, making her palms sweat and her heart race. He _did_ look suspiciously enjoying it.

"B-because—" her voice came out in a squeak, gradually lowering in tone until it was barely above a whisper. "—b-because I like you, Ryoma-kun."

Sakuno never saw it coming. The next second he'd pulled her to him and kissed her for the second time in less than three minutes-in a mean sort of way-and slowly, his fingers began tugging at her ribbons. Sakuno had noticed that usually when they kissed, Ryoma had the habit to tug at her ribbons, slowly, gently, pulling and extricating until her long, braided hair was loosed. Every time he did that, she ended up with her hair flowing freely past her shoulders. Every time that happened, Ryoma would _definitely_ twirl the strands of her dark hair between his fingers, ensnaring and whirling them almost as if he was intoxicated. His kiss too, would become more persistent, and then his hand would wander around a little too carelessly.

When Sakuno had shyly and hesitantly mentioned that strange habit to Tomoka and their friends (when they'd insisted on knowing whether Ryoma _knew_ how to kiss), the girls had excitedly squealed about how "romantic" it was. Tomoka even came up with the embarrassing theory that Sakuno's hair was what turned Ryoma on.

Snapping back to the present, Sakuno gasped. She broke the kiss abruptly and pushed her hands on Ryoma's chest until he reluctantly backed away.

"Wha…?" he asked, for the first time looking dazed.

Sakuno's face felt like it was boiling, and she blamed it on Tomoka's outrageous assumption.

Then again, her hair was completely undone now; her green ribbons lying forgotten on the concrete floor. And Ryoma looked a bit too breathless, and his brown eyes… Sakuno bit her lip anxiously. His eyes were so clear and seemed to be filled with… Lust?

_Tomo-chan's dirty thoughts are getting on to me!_

"I-I… We need-we need to get to class!" Sakuno stooped over quickly to snatch her ribbons, before she bolted away from the area (forgetting her opened locker and her bookbag), leaving her boyfriend staring blankly after her.

Heaving out a sigh, Ryoma leaned back against the wall, lazily tussling at his already disheveled hair. He closed his eyes and replayed the panic-stricken expression he'd seen on Sakuno's face just now. He smirked, and it turned into a slow grin, before he ended up laughing out loud like a maniacal psychopath.

So she finally realized how much he "liked" her hair.

**~;~**

The classroom was abounded with voices and scraping chairs like every other morning. The class president was currently being pestered by the girls who were responsible to organize the play their class was going to do for the school's upcoming tournament. Poor Kobayashi was evidently annoyed and didn't give a chase about the whole "kindergarten" play (as he said it himself), but those excited girls were merciless in their attack.

"Ano… Sakuno-chan, you look _very_ red." Tomoka observed, putting an intentional emphasis on the second last word.

"And your hair looks a bit windblown." Minami chimed in. "Did you just braid it on the way to school with Ryoma-sama, or what?" she asked, sounding way too interested in the matter.

Sitting in her chair, Sakuno hung her head lowly, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. Tomoka and Minami exchanged glances. It was Kotoko who pointed out,

"Eh? Where's your bookbag, Sakuno?"

"E-eh? It isn't-it isn't here?" Sakuno jolted up from her seat, but before she could move further, someone cuffed the top of her head lightly.

Tomoka and Minami squealed when Ryoma leaned toward Sakuno from behind, placing her forgotten bookbag on her desk.

"Am I your boyfriend, or am I your errand boy?" he asked, deliberately slowing his words and lowering his voice.

Sakuno's face practically turned _another_ different shade of red.

"I-I'm sorry, Ryoma-kun…" she whispered desperately.

"Say, _thank you_."

"T-t-thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Morning! Ryoma-sama!" Sakuno's three friends greeted in unison.

"Hn."

It was only after her boyfriend-slash-errand-boy had left her table that Sakuno breathed again.

**~;~**

"Oy, oy, were you listening?" Horio demanded, slamming his hands on Ryoma's desk.

"No."

"…"

"What a blatantly cold answer." Katsuo remarked.

"Typical though, isn't it?" Kachiro smiled. "Ryoma won't be interested in what you're going to tell him anyway, Horio." he surmised.

"That's right." Ryoma droned out. He propped his elbow on the desk and rested his cheek on his fist, plastering a bored look on his face. "Go cling to somebody else's chair."

Horio sighed, a bit too dramatically. He shook his head, wiggled his forefinger, and clung again to the back of Ryoma's chair.

"Now, now, Ryoma. I was trying to tell you that there's a transfer student coming in today. She's going to be placed in our class, I reckon."

"So?"

"I was just saying." Horio smiled smarmily, before he frowned. "It's a wonder how you ever got the _mood_ to ask Ryuzaki-san out. Back then you were so innocently, transparently ignorant; tennis was literally _the whole wide world_ to you." he recalled, and much to Ryoma's annoyance, he managed to sound excessively nostalgic, exactly the way Nanjiro Echizen and Momoshiro had sounded when they'd first found out that Ryoma and Sakuno were going out.

"Back then I was _twelve_." Ryoma retorted in his defense.

"That was only three years ago, I can't say you've changed much." Horio observed. "Other than getting taller and as the girls put it, _sexier_, you're pretty much the same egotistical guy you were back then."

"Agreed." Katsuo and Kachiro supported simultaneously.

The whole class was conspicuously loud and the three boys crowding his desk were pests, but Ryoma made no reply, the best to give them a pointedly I-don't-give-a-damn look.

Without being too obvious, he glanced sideway to the front, watching _his_ Sakuno listen to her friends' enthusiastic noisy chit-chat. He wanted to grin whenever she smiled or laughed to something her friends said. It was a strange feeling. When she was happy, he'd all feel happy as well and thought that she was irresistibly cute because she would smile. When she was down, he'd feel some kind of rush to make her feel better (although the urge to tease her was sometimes too much). And then there was the urge to tease her; he'd never told her about it, but he just couldn't resist the temptation to get her face flushed and her words to tumble all together. If he wasn't so egotistical, he would've admitted that he liked teasing her so much because she looked so… Beautiful to him when she blushed and stammered. To be precise, she looked even more _kissable_ than she already was.

As Sakuno covered her mouth with her hand and laughed, Ryoma smirked inwardly.

Their homeroom teacher walked in the class then, and they stood up greeting the man in unison. True to Horio's words, a girl in a new school uniform shortly followed, graciously entering the class and stopping next to Mr. Utsugi's desk. From behind, Ryoma could feel Horio jabbing an index finger repeatedly against his shoulder.

"She's pretty, isn't she?" he whispered. "Look properly, Ryoma! You've got to agree with me!"

Uninterested as ever, Ryoma's eyes swept lazily past the transfer student's face, and he froze. Somehow, she looked familiar.

"This is your new classmate, she's transferring all the way from America." Mr. Utsugi announced, and the girl bowed as murmurs and clapping erupted from the class.

"I'm Okumura Eri, please take good care of me." she said with a smile.

With an elbow still propped on the desk supporting his cheek, Ryoma scrutinized the girl thoughtfully. Dark-brown-haired, green-eyed, sparkly white teeth… Hmmm. Just as he was racking his brains for some sort of recognition, the girl's gaze stopped directly on him. Although he was surprised, he didn't show it. He stared back stoically, until she smiled at him.

It was then that he remembered.

"_Psst_, Sakuno-chan!" Tomoka hissed conspiratorially, turning back to peer at Sakuno.

"Yes?"

"That Okumura girl is staring at Ryoma-sama in a very shameless way!"

"E-eh?" Sakuno blinked. She followed the direction of Tomoka's accusing finger and found Okumura Eri staring at Ryoma (except that she wasn't sure whether it was in a shameless way or not). But still, she noticed that Ryoma was also staring back. In fact, he looked startled, as if he'd just remembered something long forgotten.

"Ne? Sakuno-chan? Wasn't I right?" Tomoka prodded.

"Um…" Sakuno frowned faintly, a little curious.

At the back of the class, Horio had joined the other guys in discussing about the new girl. Ryoma averted his eyes and sighed, idly wondering what was the girl who'd back some long years ago, claimed she was his "first admirer" doing in Japan.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Two

"Coldhearted Bully"

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"You're going to be the prince in the _Cinderella_ play."

"I'm not going to even be in the play."

"_Echizen_?"

"Yes?"

"I'm the class president; we've all voted, majority of the girls have voted on you, and so _you're_ going to be the prince in the stupid, ridiculous, cheesy, retarded play. It's decided, and it's an order."

"Kobayashi?"

"Yes?"

"Bite me."

And Kobayashi _would have_ happily gnawed at Ryoma's head, if not for the other guys' quick reflex. They latched onto their class president's arms and held him back from attacking.

Unsurprisingly enough, Ryoma continued to sit in his chair with a calm expression throughout the entire ordeal, as if he couldn't care less if someone was going to chew his head off.

Having watched the whole process of the "negotiation", the girls in the classroom giggled. When Horio took charge and replaced Kobayashi to persuade Ryoma into accepting the lead role, Ryoma turned his face to the other direction. Horio poked his face to that direction as well, and as soon as Ryoma turned to the _other_ direction, Horio quickly followed. They ended up turning here and there as if they were playing peek-a-boo.

"That's some success, huh?" Tomoka prompted.

"Ryoma-sama might get a whiplash." Minami said.

"I've told you Ryoma doesn't want to be the prince." Sakuno said with a smile.

"Ne, Sakuno, it's getting odd _and_ creepy." Kotoko said.

"Eh… What?"

Kotoko nudged to the front. They saw Okumura Eri staring in Ryoma's direction, and Tomoka frowned.

"I've told you she's aiming for Ryoma-sama, Sakuno-chan."

Sakuno tried to smile reassuringly, but she felt herself grimacing. Not only Okumura Eri, the other girls _were_ looking in Ryoma's direction too, but there was… Something different with the way Eri looked at Ryoma. Today was her third day in school, and she had fairly made friends with the other students, particularly with Aoi Mizuki and her sidekicks. Sakuno thought almost sourly, that it was just "perfect" how Eri walked right into Mizuki's group. She couldn't really be close to Eri, because she was certain Mizuki would have put some wrong ideas about her into Eri's mind. Even back then in the middle school, Mizuki had kept a strong dislike toward Sakuno, and she had made her dislike known. Of course, back then it hadn't _really_ been a problem, because they hadn't been placed in the same class. Now though, Sakuno tried to avoid Mizuki as much as she could. Not even her grandmother and her friends knew she'd been subjected to some bullying, because as timid as she was, she still valued her pride.

"Have you asked about Okumura to Ryoma-sama?" Kotoko asked, breaking Sakuno's train of thought.

"No. I don't think there's a need to." Sakuno replied, and she was shot back by looks of disbelief by her friends. "W-what is it?"

"Even if you're not curious, aren't you supposed to be _worried_, Sakuno-chan?" Tomoka asked.

"W-why?"

With an exasperated expression, Tomoka pressed her palms on Sakuno's desk, staring into Sakuno's eyes in what appeared to be an attempt to hypnotize her.

"To you over there—" she pointed a finger conspicuously in Eri's direction. "—is a rival, Sakuno-chan, _a rival_. We are first-years in high school now; Ryoma-sama is on his way of becoming the school's prince charming…!"

"I… I don't see how that has to do with Okumura-san, Tomo-chan."

"Aah, of course she's not worried." Minami sighed wishfully. "Ryoma-sama picked _her_, after all."

"That was _before_ a rival walked through the door." Tomoka protested. "I'm not saying that Ryoma-sama is unreliable, but he's… He's a _boy_. A boy naturally becomes attracted to a pretty girl, and although I feel like vomiting, I have to say that Okumura girl is _quite_ pretty." Tomoka made a face. "Didn't you notice it too? Her attention's been glued on Ryoma-sama instantly at the moment she saw him."

While her friends delved further into the topic, Sakuno kept silent. Truth be told, she _did_ know what her friends were trying to drive at. But what about it? Ryoma hadn't done anything which could suggest he even noticed Okumura Eri (other than the startled expression he'd showed two days ago). What, then? Could she just _ask_ Ryoma out of the blue about Okumura Eri?

Either way, despite what her friends had claimed, Sakuno _was_ aware of how the new girl was always staring at her boyfriend.

**~;~**

"Nya…! Here she comes again…!"

"You don't need to cling to me to make a point, Eiji." Kaidoh remarked irritably.

Eiji shifted and scooted over to fling himself around Fuji. The other regulars (minus Tezuka) stared expectantly as the new girl from 1st Year Class 1 made her way to the tennis court. She had only been in the school for two days, and she seemed to make it a custom to stop by the tennis court during lunch break.

And every time she did stop, she walked up straight to the captain, and asked exactly the same question.

"Where's Ryoma?"

The other regulars (in fact, the whole tennis club members too) by then had memorized the dialogue which went from the girl's mouth and their captain's.

"I'm not Echizen's babysitter." Tezuka replied in monotone, not bothering to lift his gaze from the notebook he was inspecting.

"But you're his captain." the brunette girl pointed out.

"Exactly." Tezuka retorted in a matter-of-factly tone. He turned away; leaving the spot he'd been standing in a clear fashion that indicated he didn't want to be anywhere close to the girl.

With a dissatisfied expression, the brunette girl turned around and left the court, throwing the regulars a haughty glance as she walked past them.

"Nya…! She's scary…! But Tezuka's a _meanie_…!" Eiji accused.

"That girl's bitter." Takashi commented.

"More like spiteful." Kaidoh declared.

"That girl has a name-Okumura Eri, and she's cute." Momoshiro remarked, scratching his head and shrugging his shoulders when his teammates gave him an identical blank look. He grinned. "So that's not the point."

"Yes." Fuji agreed, sounding thoroughly curious. "Why is she so interested in Ryoma?"

"Nya…! Most girls _are_ interested in Ochibi…!"

Inui took out his long-familiar notepad, sifting through the pages studiously. The regulars (including even Tezuka) had heard of the girl's data from him yesterday; they now knew that she was half-Japanese and half-American, and that her father owned a tennis club back in America. They also knew that she and Ryoma had gone to the same kindergarten and elementary school. It wasn't a wonder if they knew each other-no, scratch that; _of course_ they knew each other-but by the looks of it, Ryoma didn't seem to be affected by that fact. As far as they could tell, their Ochibi acted as if he'd never seen the girl before. He went about his daily business as usual, treating the girl the way he treated every other stranger. Which meant; _ignoring_ her.

"Hmm." Momoshiro said, putting on his thinking face. "I wonder if this is the case where that Okumura girl is looking for her childhood love, or something of the sort." he surmised. "Which would be interesting; since Ryoma has Ryuzaki-san now."

"Eh? Nyaa…! Won't Sakuno-chan be the third wheel then?"

"Don't you think you've watched too many dramas?" Oishi asked with a smile.

**~;~**

The school roof had unofficially become their lunch spot. Sakuno had been surprised that no one actually bothered to make themselves comfortable on the roof. Not that she was complaining, since it also meant she and Ryoma could spend time together without anybody else around. Then again, Sakuno _had_ asked her friends to join them, several times in fact, but Tomoka, Minami and Kotoko had _always_ declined. It seemed that they were contented to just wink and shoo Sakuno to go alone with Ryoma. After some time, Sakuno finally gave in; she stopped asking them and every time when lunch break arrived, she would follow Ryoma out of the class with a flushed face while her friends giggled girlishly from behind. Similarly, Sakuno had also asked Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo to come along, but unlike Tomoka, Minami and Kotoko who had declined willingly, the three boys had declined after Ryoma gave them a look that seemed to say; _"You agree, you die."_

That was how they always ended up eating lunch together, just the two of them, on the roof.

Sitting on the roof floor, Sakuno unwrapped two lunchboxes which she had packed that morning (while her grandmother had watched knowingly). As she took out two pairs of disposable chopsticks, Ryoma went to the parapet and leaned forward. The roof was overlooking the tennis court, and he could see his senpais and the other tennis club members loitering around the court. With a serious intention, Ryoma calculated whether he could throw his empty Ponta can to Momoshiro's head. Or if to get a larger reaction, Kaidoh's.

"Today's weather is nice for a picnic, ne, Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno asked.

Deciding to throw the Ponta can some time later (definitely to Kaidoh's head), Ryoma turned around and slid down, sitting cross-legged on the floor across from Sakuno. He stared into his lunchbox (which had been prepared entirely by Sakuno, really) for a long minute. There was nothing readable on his face, and Sakuno quickly became worried. Since he hadn't yet tasted the meal… Could it be that there was something wrong-looking with it?

"What are you going to do after you graduate?" he asked before Sakuno could say anything.

"E-eh? W-why are you suddenly asking?"

"I suddenly want to know."

"Oh." Sakuno chewed on her lip, thinking hard. Well… She wasn't the number one student in class, but she knew she was one of those who tried hardest. Not that she was any smart, she simply took her studies seriously so she would be able to maintain good grades. She'd given thoughts on being a teacher, but she wasn't completely sure about it yet. "I might want to be a teacher." Sakuno replied. "I-I mean, I haven't really decided, t-there's still time…"

Ryoma picked up his chopsticks and his lunchbox. Sakuno watched anxiously as he selected her homemade maki-zushi. It wasn't the first time. She had started making him meals even years before they started dating, but she was nervous about what he would think of them just like the first time she had given them to him.

As Ryoma chewed, his eyes found Sakuno's face, and they stared at each other as if anticipating a long-awaited event. Quietly, Ryoma brought the chopsticks to his lips and put them in his mouth. Slowly he licked them, and when he deliberately began to suck on them in a very… _Seductive_ way, Sakuno's breath caught in her throat.

She turned away, blushing furiously.

Ryoma smirked.

"I'm sorry, you were staring, I couldn't resist." he said, but he didn't sound apologetic at all. Sakuno mumbled something incoherently, keeping her eyes on the floor. Ryoma swallowed properly before pointing with his chopsticks at her lunchbox. "You should eat."

Sakuno took a deep, cleansing breath. Then she picked up her meal.

"It-Itadakimasu." she whispered. As she began eating, she made sure not to _stare_ at her boyfriend again.

They ate in silence. Sakuno was relieved. It gave time for her accelerating heartbeat to normalize again. The weather _was_ nice, the sunshine genial with occasional clouds drifting across the sky. Like every other day, Sakuno set aside a small portion of her lunch to feed the visiting birds with; they were the only other lunchers on the roof besides Ryoma and herself.

Suddenly, without any apparent reason, Ryoma started laughing. It was a controlled and restrained laughter, but still quite unmistakably a laughter. Sakuno looked at him curiously, considering not many things could make Echizen Ryoma laugh. In fact… Now that Sakuno _thought_ about it, she had never _really_ heard him laugh. So far he had either simply smirked or snorted when he found something amusing.

"Stay still." Ryoma ordered. Sakuno obeyed, her eyes widening inch after inch as his hand reached out past her. After two short seconds, he carefully pulled back. There was a tiny bird perched on his fingers. "It was looking for something in your hair." he explained.

Sakuno's hand shot up to her hair. So he was laughing at _her_ because a tiny bird was posing majestically on her head. Sakuno smiled, shifting closer to Ryoma to look at the tiny bird.

"What are you going to do with it, Ryoma-kun?"

"Pack it in the lunchbox."

"_Eh_?"

"And then bring it home to give it as a plaything to Karupin Junior."

Sakuno's eyes widened.

"T-then it will… It will die… Karupin Junior would kill it."

"Hn."

"I-I… I love birds." Sakuno said, half-hoping Ryoma would understand. Due to extreme anxiety, she couldn't find the courage to ask him to release the tiny, cute, _innocent_ bird. Yet her boyfriend seemed clueless enough (and a bit cruel) to make Sakuno cry. "D-don't you love animals, Ryoma-kun?"

"I love cats." Ryoma said matter-of-factly. "And ducks."

"Y-yes." Sakuno nodded. "D-ducks are… Ducks are swimming birds."

Ryoma raised an eyebrow.

"But they're not the same." he said. "I can't love birds the way I love ducks—" using the hand which wasn't holding the tiny bird, he counted on the tips of his fingers. "—I love them fried, roasted, grilled, with a bit of pepper and Okasan's special sauce…"

Tears welled in Sakuno's eyes, and Ryoma had to use every ounce of self-restraint to keep from bursting out laughing. He was a coldhearted bully, he knew. As corny as it was, it wasn't his fault that his girlfriend looked irresistibly cute when on the verge of crying. If he couldn't help it, he might just _kiss_ her right now and here.

"Y-you only love them _eaten_." Sakuno sobbed.

"Yeah, but I know what you meant." Ryoma moved his fingers gently, and the tiny bird fluttered, flying away to join its comrades feasting on the roof floor. "I wasn't going to pack it in the lunchbox," he apologized. Sakuno continued sniffling and rubbing her eyes with her fists. Ryoma wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to him. "What's wrong with you girls? Crying at the slightest sentiment." he said offhandedly. Then again, his cousin Nanako was a grown woman now, and she still cried her eyes out at the barest injustice. "It was a joke… Except the ducks part. Oyaji loves them fried, roasted and grilled. I just love them fried."

Despite herself, Sakuno giggled.

The door leading to the roof was suddenly pushed open. The loud, creaking sound its hinge made caught their attention, and before they knew it, they were looking right at the "new girl" from their class.

"O-Okumura-san?" Sakuno called in surprise, self-consciously pulling Ryoma's arm from around her shoulders.

Instead, Eri had her eyes directed on Ryoma.

"I want to talk to you, Ryo-chan." she said. She turned to Sakuno, and Sakuno squealed inwardly. Her green eyes were piercing and, somehow, _accusing_. "I want to talk to you alone."

**~;~**

Yesterday after finding out that Okumura Eri was now in Japan; Nanjiro Echizen had told Ryoma that his encounter with the girl was an "inevitable" one. Ryoma's "stupid oyaji" even went to the extremity of reminding him that _he_ had been the one who'd given promises to Eri. Who cared if those promises had been made back when they were _little children_? Ryoma's stupid oyaji intentionally pressed the matter to him, saying that if Eri had come as far as from America to Japan to find Ryoma, surely she _wanted_ Ryoma to fulfill his childhood promises.

_"Ano, Rinko, the day has come. Our silly shounen is going to be the male lead in his own love triangle story." _Nanjiro had said. _"Stick with Ryuzaki-san, okay? Unless Okumura-san can cook better than Ryuzaki-san."_

Of course, naturally, Ryoma had given no visible response to Nanjiro's provocations (other than saying _"Shut up, darn old man"_). Nevertheless, Nanjiro looked excited enough, as if he was waiting for his favorite TV drama to be broadcasted.

"What are you doing?" Eri asked, jerking Ryoma back from his recollection. Ryoma realized that he was about to throw his Ponta can toward the tennis court. He pulled back and leaned against the parapet. Eri stared at the Ponta can in his hand. "So it's still your favorite?" she asked.

Ryoma became slightly uncomfortable. Eri noticed, and she smiled mercilessly. She had always pointed out his Ponta-habit when he'd started drinking it in 4th grade. She'd said Ponta to Ryoma was what spinach was to Popeye.

"What are you doing in Japan?" he asked instead.

"I wanted to ask you why you haven't greeted me." Eri began. "You obviously still remember me, don't you Ryo-chan?"

"Yeah." Ryoma retorted, making a mental note to tell her to stop putting the suffix "chan" after his name. Back when he was five years old, it had been fine, but he wasn't five years old anymore. "I remember you. I thought you didn't remember me."

Eri rolled her eyes.

"I smiled at you." she pointed out.

"You were a new student; it could've been a friendly, greeting smile."

"Right." she pursed her lips skeptically. "So that girl's your girlfriend huh?"

Sakuno had willingly offered to leave them both on the roof after Eri had asked to speak to Ryoma _alone_, so Ryoma assumed "that girl" meant Sakuno.

"She is."

"You two don't look fit for each other, she seems fake." Eri said. Apparently, her words were as sharp as years before. Ryoma chose not to comment. "You're not playing tennis right now, are you? I heard you got into an accident about three months ago. You've been temporarily "rested" from involving yourself with tennis, that's why I haven't seen you at the court at all."

Again, Ryoma chose not to comment. His injuries had physically completely healed.

"I don't need to explain what I do to anyone, do I?" he asked. Eri shrugged. She tossed back her long, wavy hair and mimicked Ryoma, leaning casually against the parapet. "Don't tell me you came all the way from America because you heard about that."

Eri smiled.

"Of course not." she said. Ever since they were younger, Ryoma had always known Okumura Eri was pretty. She was tall and slender, her eyes were big and bright and therefore, attractive. But now he thought she also looked… Conspiratorial, like she was planning something. And he had the strangest idea that his stupid oyaji might be right. Before he could point it out, the bell rang, indicating the lunch break was over. Eri stepped forward and kissed Ryoma on the cheek. "See you, Ryo-chan."

Ryoma didn't move, staring after the brunette girl until she had disappeared behind the door. Then his eyes went upward, staring at the blue sky contemplatively.

She smelled of strawberry.

.

.

.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Three

"Sticker Photos"

* * *

.

.

It was past one p.m., classes had ended some time thirty minutes ago, leaving Sakuno's classroom empty except for two in-duty students whose names were written with yellow chalk on the blackboard-one of which, was her own:

_Kobayashi Shouta / Ryuzaki Sakuno_

As Kobayashi dragged the trash can out of the class to be emptied (his ears being stuffed with earphones and his face wearing a sour look after losing a bet of some sort with the other guys), Sakuno tiptoed in front of the massive blackboard, eraser in hand. She wiped the blackboard with as much energy she could muster, shutting her eyes tightly as she rubbed and rubbed like her life depended on rubbing. In the process, she let out a big, mournful sigh.

Upon finding out that she had left Ryoma with Okumura Eri _alone_ on the school roof at lunch break, Tomoka had lectured her like a mother hen panicking over a stolen egg. Although Sakuno felt bad enough, Tomoka had insisted on making her feel worse; she'd declared not to help Sakuno with cleaning the class that day, and true to her words, she'd hurried to go home as soon as the bell rang, hauling both Minami and Kotoko with her. The cruel treatment was supposed to be Sakuno's punishment for carelessly leaving "Ryoma-sama" with another girl.

"I didn't know you like cleaning the blackboard that much."

Sakuno's eyes snapped open at Kobayashi's voice. Her hand froze in the air, and she turned around sheepishly.

"I got carried away." she admitted.

Kobayashi smiled.

"I can see that." he said. "Why didn't that ego-complex guy wait for you?" he asked.

Sakuno contemplated for a moment, before she realized that "that ego-complex guy" was meant for Ryoma.

"Ryoma-kun was called by Tezuka-senpai." she explained. "He'll be here after that."

Kobayashi's lips pursed in distaste.

"I'm dead curious." he said. Sakuno tilted her head to one side. "Is that guy nice to you? I mean, he looks…" he struggled for the right word. "It's kind of hard for me to actually imagine someone like him in a relationship."

There was something strange in the way Kobayashi said it. Sakuno felt uneasy, but she smiled and nodded.

"Ryoma-kun is nice." in his own, Ryoma-ish way, she thought. But Kobayashi didn't need to know that. She was satisfied with the Ryoma she had.

"So he calls you at night?" Kobayashi prompted.

"Um… Yes."

"When you two go out together, he pays for your drinks and food and all?"

"Yes." Sakuno answered, thinking the questions odd. "Unless when Ryoma-kun wants to eat something I make, that way I'll pack a meal from home." she added, and she blushed when Kobayashi raised an eyebrow.

"So that guy's normal after all." he sighed. Sakuno wondered what kind of thing Kobayashi had been thinking about involving Ryoma. "One more thing," he frowned thoughtfully. "Does that guy take sticker photos with you?" he asked, looking almost doubtful.

"Um," Sakuno pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. "Once."

"Ah." Kobayashi nodded, as if understandingly. He sat on a desk which Sakuno recognized as one of the girls', Sonomi, and fiddled with his iPod. "Then what about Okumura Eri?" he asked.

Surprised, the blackboard eraser nearly slipped from Sakuno's fingers.

"W-what about Okumura-san?" she asked back, warily.

For some time, Kobayashi seemed hesitant. He scratched at his head and mumbled about it not being his problem.

"For one thing," he finally muttered. "Okumura's asked me more than once about why did that ego-complex guy stop playing tennis. I don't know what she and that guy have to do with each other, but if you ask me, I'd say she's annoyed about him quitting tennis."

Sakuno fell silent. She was discomfited at the fact that Okumura Eri was giving so much thought on her boyfriend.

"R-Ryoma-kun didn't quit tennis." she corrected.

"Really?" Kobayashi sounded unconvinced. "It's been nearly two months since he got back to school, nobody has seen him picking up a racquet yet. And I heard it was him who requested to be excluded from any practices."

"T-that's true. But it's only temporary." Sakuno responded. Her heart was beating hard and she felt like hyperventilating; she had never spoken about that topic with anyone else except Ryoma himself, and that too had been mentioned only once, back almost two months ago.

"He's healed." Kobayashi said, putting it plainly.

"Yes." now Sakuno felt like crying. "You can say that." she whispered.

"What do you mean by—" Kobayashi started to ask, but then, he noticed how Sakuno had bent her head inch by inch toward the floor, and he decided to drop it. "—look, I'm sorry. I know it isn't my place to ask—"

He was cut short by a loud noise of something hitting a metal. He and Sakuno turned to see a Ponta can falling clamorously into the trash can at the far end of the classroom.

"Done." Ryoma announced, standing by the door. He took one look at Sakuno, and then he stared blankly at Kobayashi. "Did you pervert try to touch my possession while I was gone?"

Spontaneously, Kobayashi's expression turned comical. You could've figuratively seen the steams puffing out between his earphones.

"Who the hell you're calling a pervert?" he bawled.

Sakuno wiped her eyes and smiled.

"Kobayashi-kun and I were just having a talk, Ryoma-kun." she said.

"Hn, that explains why you cried." Ryoma concluded.

"What's that supposed mean?" Kobayashi challenged.

"Let's go home." Ryoma walked in the classroom and took Sakuno's bookbag, purposely ignoring their seething class president. "Pervert-kun bored you to tears, didn't he, Ryuzaki?"

Sakuno giggled.

Kobayashi glared.

**~;~**

On the way to the school's main gate, Ryoma and Sakuno had come across Eiji and Fuji as the two regulars loitered in front of the vending machine. Eiji had cheerfully chirped out sayonara to them (and sang a bit of a weird song, intended for lovers), while Fuji had smiled amusedly.

Not long after they left the school compound, walking side by side, Ryoma took Sakuno's hand almost subconsciously, intertwining their fingers before shoving their hands together in his pocket, as if her hand was actually his own. Sakuno blushed, but didn't complain.

"Ano, Ryoma-kun? What did Tezuka-senpai want from you?" she asked.

"He's royally pissed off at me."

"H-he is? Why?"

"Eri keeps coming to the tennis court asking about me." Ryoma sounded as if he was thinking of something unpleasant. "Buchou says he doesn't care what's happening between me and Eri, he wants Eri to stop bothering the team; it really means bothering _him_, though."

Sakuno tried to smile, but she felt like her face had turned into rubber.

"So Ryoma-kun really knows Okumura-san, after all." she said, and she hated how her voice came out softer than she intended. She didn't want Ryoma to think she was someone quick to take offense, even if him knowing Eri _did_ bother her. After all, he could've had mentioned it to her. Eri had been in school for two days, three including today, but he'd said nothing.

Ryoma glanced at her, and Sakuno kept her eyes on the pavement. He looked away.

"She's just someone I know since I was a kid." he offered, lightly squeezing her hand.

Sakuno couldn't decide what she should say in return. Suddenly she felt heavyhearted, sad, depressed. She wasn't sure if it was worth it. Ryoma had done nothing wrong, had he? Surely she was overreacting.

After composing herself once more, she nodded her head and smiled.

"Okay."

**~;~**

The otherwise blue and white sky was orange, purplish blue, tinted with specks of red as the sun descended upon the horizon. Nanjiro had been standing watching his son and Karupin Junior for about ten minutes. Ryoma had been sitting on the wooden floor next to the temple's large bell quietly for a full ten minutes, and if Nanjiro hadn't been watching, he would've thought his son was dead. Sitting with his left shoulder leaning against a wooden steeple, the fifteen year old had barely moved an inch; the only sign of life so far had been Karupin Junior who would occasionally sharpen his claws on Ryoma's black shorts. Ever since he'd returned from school that evening, Nanjiro thought his son had acted funny, more or less like a zombie. Nanjiro couldn't be sure, but Ryoma should notice that he was being watched, considering he was standing only a few meters from him at the house's entrance. Either way, his son showed no response; his eyes staring vacantly across the neighborhood, his expression completely blank.

_Hrmm. He seems out of this world already._

Nanjiro decided to conduct an experiment.

"Oy, shounen? You dead?" he shouted over.

Ryoma didn't budge.

"Ano, Ryoma, are you letting mosquitoes dining on your blood?"

Nothing.

"Ne, hotheaded! Dinner's ready!"

The birds twittered in the sky, returning to their nests after a day's work. Karupin Junior meowed and stretched, climbing into Ryoma's lap and curling into a furry ball. Still, there was no reaction from the tennis prodigy.

Nanjiro tried again,

"Uwaaa! I found porn magazines under your pillow!"

At that, Ryoma blinked.

"Shut up, will you?" he muttered, frowning irritably.

"Joy, your hearing ability's back." Nanjiro chuckled. He crossed his arms, putting his hands in his yukata's sleeves. "Just what you're brooding about? Come on, let's have a game." he said, trying to push a button.

Sure enough, he succeeded.

As soon as Nanjiro said "game", Ryoma scrambled to his feet. He carried Karupin Junior with him and stomped into the house, stalking past his oyaji without another word. Nanjiro counted exactly fifteen seconds, and then there was an earth-shaking sound of a door being slammed from upstairs.

**~;~**

Ryuzaki Sumire sat silently at the mahogany table, watching as her granddaughter bustled about the kitchen. It had almost been a tradition to see Sakuno preparing meals on Saturday evening. She would act fidgety and occasionally, she would stammer an exclamation that she had put the wrong ingredients into her cooking, and then she would hurry to get things fixed, fretting and lamenting along the way. Sumire thought amusedly, that Echizen Ryoma would luckily have a good housewife, that was-if he decided to keep Sakuno until the end.

_"You never know what that silly shounen's thinking."_ Nanjiro had told Sumire on the day they found out that their son and their granddaughter were going out. _"First he was all aloof and didn't seem to know a thing, and next he's gotten himself a cute girlfriend? I keep asking him how he did it, you know; how he asked Ryuzaki-san out, but all he told to me was to get lost."_

Sumire hadn't wondered. Knowing Nanjiro, the man would probably have had asked Ryoma in an infuriating fashion, and so Ryoma couldn't have had replied any way better.

"You're preparing for tomorrow, Sakuno?" Sumire asked. "Could you leave me a portion of whatever it is you're making?" she requested smilingly.

With a red face, Sakuno nodded her agreement.

**~;~**

Doing homework wasn't exactly Sakuno's favorite way of passing the time. Then again, it wasn't exactly _anyone's_ favorite way of passing the time. That night she tried harder though, mainly because tomorrow she would spend the day with Ryoma, and also because she wasn't one who liked to procrastinate (a trait which was envied by Tomoka, who frequently whined about not wanting to even look at her homework).

The clock continued ticking, half past eight; the moon was shining bright outside Sakuno's windowpane. She tapped her pen thoughtfully on her lips as she tried to figure out a rather intimidating mathematical problem.

Then, suddenly, there came two serial knockings from the window.

Startled, Sakuno turned around in her swivel chair, and she saw Ryoma lounging idly on the branches of a tree which had grown just outside her room. In disbelief, Sakuno stood up abruptly, mouth opened. She blinked and looked again, just in case she was hallucinating; a thin lamp pole stood in the distance. Her boyfriend, wearing casual black slacks, a white-and-red t-shirt and a dark-blue sweater, complete with a cap, was still lounging on the tree outside her window.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno whispered. She rushed across the room, unlocking the sash lock and poking her head outside. Ryoma shifted slightly, holding one of the upper branches to get closer to the window. It wasn't that late at night, and any neighbor could have just peered out their window to see a random boy perching on a tree to a girl's bedroom. "W-what are you… What are you doing, Ryoma-kun?"

"I've been thinking." he said in monotone.

"Y-yes?" Sakuno frowned.

"Let's elope."

"Eh… Elope… _Eh_?"

"Keep your voice down, you can say no." Ryoma smirked. With his free hand, he reached out and touched Sakuno's face, but she didn't seem to notice. Even as he began to caress her cheek, she kept frowning, apparently giving the "eloping" idea a deep thought. "I was bored, I sort of just… Came over."

After the "Let's elope" suggestion, Sakuno wasn't really listening to what Ryoma was saying anymore. Her mind raced a million miles per second, seriously pondering over the idea of running away with her beloved. They would need to work to earn money for their living. Their parents and teachers and friends would be frantic and they would need to send letters telling them they were okay and happy…

Sakuno was pulled back from her thoughts when she felt Ryoma's fingers on her mouth; they felt cold. His thumb traced slowly along her lower lip, and when Sakuno glanced at him, her heart skipped many beats. His brown eyes seemed so clear, the way they always seemed whenever he was about to kiss her, and he looked drunk, the way he always looked whenever his fingers played with her hair; _intoxicated_.

Sakuno felt her face heating up as she thought, shamelessly, how she _wanted_ him to kiss her. The shame was quickly forgotten though, because Ryoma seemed to have read her mind.

He pulled her face to him and pressed his lips on hers. They didn't realize when he lost his cap. Not that he minded. He was too busy trying to keep himself from falling off the tree and kissing at the same time. Involuntarily, she shivered when he teasingly licked her lower lip.

"W-wait, Ryoma-kun." Sakuno said breathlessly. "Y-you could fall."

"Yeah?" he held the back of Sakuno's head, pulling at the crimson hairband which tied her long hair in a simple ponytail. Sakuno squeezed her eyes shut when he leaned over to her ear, so close that she could feel his hot breath against her neck. "Invite me into your room, then." he whispered.

Her heart hammering in her ears, heat coursing through her like electricity; Sakuno pushed the window to her room several inches wider, and Ryoma skillfully helped himself inside. He wasted no time at all, wounding one arm around Sakuno's waist and using another to cup her face. At first, Sakuno thought it was frightening how his intention was so evident, but shortly the fear sort of evaporated. He trailed kisses along her jaw, down her neckline, and he already had her pressed against the wall when he started fiddling with her pajamas' buttons.

It felt so… right. Sakuno didn't mind it at all, but somehow, somehow, her mind took over and her mouth spoke on its own, whispering,

"I want to know about Okumura-san, Ryoma-kun."

And Ryoma's fingers stopped on the second button.

Sakuno heard him sigh against her neck, and she had never felt as terrible as right now.

"The mood's been killed." Ryoma informed.

"I-I'm sorry." Sakuno whispered guiltily.

Ryoma pressed his forehead on Sakuno's left shoulder, and they stood silently for a long minute.

"Actually," he began. "I came here to tell you about Eri, but it was your fault that I forgot."

"M-my fault?"

"Hn."

Sakuno frowned thoughtfully, racking her brains for anything she'd done wrong. She couldn't find any.

"A-ano, Ryoma-kun? W-why did you come here to tell me about Okumura-san?" she asked.

"That was your fault too."

"My fault… Too?"

Ryoma stood straight and touched his head, wondering where his cap had gone.

He looked around, giving Sakuno's bedroom an inspection. Everything was predictably neat. The curtains were pastel green, the bedcover was green, and even the Mickey Mouse shaped clock adorning the wall was greenish in color. In fact, majority of the things inside the bedroom was harmoniously _green_. Sakuno's tennis racquet was placed horizontally on a brown duffel bag. Ryoma made no comment. Instead, he made a face when he saw the sticker photos which he and Sakuno had taken on their third date; they were pasted appreciatively on her wardrobe's wall. Taking sticker photos hadn't really been his idea, he'd agreed to do it because Sakuno had looked so hopeful.

"I looked like a clown." he said. When he received no response, he turned to see Sakuno smiling wide from ear to ear. He walked to her and pressed his palms on her cheeks. "Stop laughing." he commanded.

"I-I'm not." she giggled. "It's not that you don't know how to pose in front of a camera, Ryoma-kun."

"I just don't get the idea of posing inside that… Pink tent."

"There was a camera in that pink tent."

"It was awkward and stupid. I'm never doing it again."

"I-I could try asking again, you might just agree again." Sakuno mumbled, and Ryoma stared at her with narrowed eyes.

"What did you say?" he demanded, squishing her face in his hands.

"N-nothing." Sakuno protested, but her giggles blew it away. She held his hands, trying to stop them from kneading her face like bread dough. "R-Ryoma-kun—"

There was a knock on the door. They both froze.

"Sakuno?" Sumire called from outside. "Come downstairs, your parents are on the phone."

"O-Okay…" Sakuno whispered. Ryoma looked amused, and she blushed as she realized her mistake. How was her grandmother going to hear that? "Okay!" she said louder.

They waited until Sumire's footsteps had died away.

"Why are your parents on the phone?" Ryoma asked.

"T-they would call from the oversea… To check on me." Sakuno explained.

Ryoma lowered his hands, removing them from torturing her face.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning." he said. "I'll tell you everything you want to know about Eri."

Sakuno was pleased. Although, she was quickly disappointed that he was about to leave.

"A-are you going home already?" she asked.

"You want me to stay? I won't let you sleep if I stay." Ryoma said with a straight face.

"W-what could we do if we don't sleep?" Sakuno asked nervously, following him to the window.

"A lot." he told. It was then that Sakuno noticed; a small tuft of Ryoma's hair was tied with her crimson hairband, and it was sticking up funnily on the top of his head. Ryoma climbed over the window with ease, as if he'd been doing it every night. Once his feet landed on the tree branch, he pulled her face to him in a long, tender kiss. "I bring no money, no cell phone. So if I don't show up tomorrow… You'll know I've been kidnapped." he said.

"D-don't say that, Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno called out in panic, but Ryoma had jumped off of the tree. From the ground, he looked up at Sakuno and smiled smugly, enjoying the fact that she was worried about him. "B-be careful to weird strangers!" Sakuno whispered, and she closed the window reluctantly when her grandmother called again.

Sakuno fixed her pajamas before skipping downstairs. She couldn't stop smiling; Ryoma had come all the way to her house because he'd noticed she was upset about Okumura Eri.

.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Four

"Third Party"

* * *

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Yoshikawa Kaori was ten years old, and she was the elementary school girl who'd been in the accident which had taken place nearly three months ago. That morning she had been cycling as she routinely did to school, and Ryoma had been in a taxi rushing for a tennis tournament. It was only by chance that he'd overslept and they ran into each other, leaving the taxi driver and himself injured and fortunately, recovered, but the girl in a coma.

Truth be told, Sakuno wasn't entirely sure for how long Ryoma planned on "taking a break" from tennis. She knew he somehow felt guilty, because he'd told her about it himself; almost two months ago when she'd visited him at the hospital, just a day before he was released, he'd completely broken down. He told her he couldn't forget how he'd urged the taxi driver to "drive faster", he told her maybe that had been the reason for the accident. Sakuno didn't know whether that was true, but she'd hugged him and stayed until he stopped crying. It had been the first, and hopefully the last time, that she had seen Echizen Ryoma cry.

They never talked about it afterward, like it had never happened, and Sakuno didn't mind.

"What did you put in there?" Ryoma asked as he took Sakuno's backpack from her, slinging it casually over his shoulder.

As the doors slid open, they followed the stream of people out of the subway train. Sakuno thought about what she had put inside her backpack that morning.

"Um… Slices of chocolate cake for Mr. and Mrs Yoshikawa and Kei-kun, slices of chocolate cake for Ryoma-kun, my cell phone, my purse, my handkerchief, my keys—"

"—pretty much the whole wardrobe." Ryoma summarized. Sakuno fidgeted anxiously. "What about slices of chocolate cake for yourself?" he asked.

"I-I've eaten."

"So later you're just going to watch me eat?"

"Um…"

"Pervert."

"_Eh_?" Sakuno blushed. "I-I'm not…" as she fiddled nervously with the hem of her light blue, pleated blouse, she remembered that her grandmother had given her Ryoma's cap before she left the house that morning. Sumire had watched Sakuno with a half-wondering, half-knowing look as Sakuno packed, and later she'd given Sakuno the "mysterious" white cap with a red line around it, which she claimed had been discovered on the ground a few meters from Sakuno's bedroom window early that morning. While Sakuno turned red, Sumire innocently mentioned about having seen Echizen Ryoma wearing the mysterious cap at school before. "A-ano, Ryoma-kun, I've brought the cap you dropped last night. It's inside my backpack."

Instead of answering, Ryoma took Sakuno's hand and held it in his grasp, stopping her from fiddling like a restless five-years-old. Sakuno noticed that he was wearing a crimson hairband around his right wrist. It was unmistakably _hers_, which he'd pulled from her hair last night.

"You want to walk, or you want to take a cab?" he asked once they stepped into the open air.

It was quite strange. They'd been making the same trip every Sunday for more than a month now, and he kept asking her that question.

"I don't mind." Sakuno replied like she always did, and Ryoma led them toward the street, apparently deciding to take a taxi like he always did. The distance from the subway station to the hospital wasn't exactly far, but still they'd been taking the taxi. "W-why are you wearing… My hairband on your hand, Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno asked, curious.

"You want it back?" he asked stoically. "Or you want me to tie my hair with it?"

"N-no, it-it's okay. I'm just wondering… Why would you wear that hairband on your hand."

"It's my lucky-charm." he explained, hailing a taxi for both of them.

Once they got in the black car, Sakuno requested for her pastel green backpack from Ryoma, unzipping it in her lap. She fumbled around, feeling like searching for a gadget inside Doraemon's dimensional pocket. When she finally found Ryoma's controversial cap to be returned to him, she saw him settled comfortably beside her, eyes closed, peacefully _asleep_.

Sakuno smiled. Somehow, he looked exhausted. Almost as if he hadn't really slept the entire night. Even his hair was somewhat disheveled, windswept, tussled. Not that Sakuno was complaining. If Tomoka and the admiring girls were here, they might've said that it made Ryoma look sexy. No, probably sexier. Sakuno felt like a pervert, but she couldn't stop staring.

Since Ryoma had decided to take a break from tennis, he'd started wearing the school uniform regularly instead of t-shirt and shorts, and the change oddly escalated his popularity amongst the enthusiastic girls. Although Sakuno had shyly agreed with them that Ryoma had grown from cute to good-looking, she couldn't understand the school uniform complex. Sakuno had heard the girls categorizing her boyfriend as "bad boy" type, but she couldn't see which part of Ryoma represented "bad" at all. And bad boy doesn't necessarily make bad boyfriend.

At least, that was what she thought.

**~;~**

It was rude to yawn in front of other people, especially when one was your elder, and particularly when you were greeting her with a "Good morning". For Ryoma's okasan, it was unforgivably direspectful. It was a good thing she wasn't here.

Mrs Yoshikawa smiled as Ryoma tottered into the ward.

"Good morning to you too, you look like you could've used some more sleep." she said.

Yoshikawa Kei, Kaori's seven years old, younger brother, didn't agree.

"You look like shit." he commented, his eyes trained on his Gameboy's screen, his fingers pressing busily on buttons.

"Kei," Mrs Yoshikawa admonished.

Sakuno crossed the ward to put the flowers she and Ryoma had bought just minutes ago in the vase. Ryoma walked straight to Kei who was lounging leisurely on the red couch. He whacked Kei on the back of his head, and when the seven years old muttered a curse, Ryoma whacked him twice more.

"You impolite outsider!" Kei bawled. "Do you keep coming to visit my sister, or do you keep coming to hit me?"

"Both." Ryoma droned out, taking a seat next to Kei. "Where's Fuyu-san?" he asked.

"I'm not Otosan's babysitter, and I don't freaking live to answer your questions."

"Watch your language, Kei." Mrs Yoshikawa said. "Fuyu's gone out to the cafeteria, Ryoma."

Pulling his feet onto the couch, Kei harrumphed. He turned his head toward Sakuno.

"Sakuno nee-chan, have you considered my offer yet?" he asked proudly. "Dump this stupid, obnoxious outsider and date me."

"Do you even know what obnoxious means?" Ryoma chimed in.

"Shut up." Kei snarled. "Sakuno nee-chan, this outsider's not worth your time, you know. I bet I kiss better than he does."

"Kei, I'm going to tape your mouth if you say just one more word." Mrs Yoshikawa threatened.

"_So_?" Kei said, directing his eyes on Sakuno and apparently challenging his mother.

Ryoma leaned his head on the couch and closed his eyes, looking too sleepy to care. Although, he did pat Kei's head rhythmically three times, as if giving a warning.

With a reddening face, Sakuno blinked twice, not knowing how to respond. Every time when she and Ryoma came, Kei and Ryoma would argue-or rather, Ryoma would hit Kei several times for being uncivil, and Kei would take revenge any way he could, while Mr. and Mrs Yoshikawa would unsuccessfully try to make him apologize and behave. Kei also seemed to be doing his best to "lure" Sakuno to leave Ryoma for him. He was seven years old, so it made his seduction _quite_ harmless and absolutely adorable, but sometimes, Sakuno thought Ryoma looked seriously jealous.

The door was pushed open, and Sakuno was saved from further embarrassment when Mr. Yoshikawa, or as Ryoma called him, Fuyu-san, walked in the ward holding a plastic bag filled with edibles.

"Ah, I thought you were coming." he said when he saw Sakuno. He glanced over to the red couch, raising an eyebrow at Ryoma who seemed to have drifted into dreamland. "That never happened before." he observed.

"Y-yes, I don't know why either." Sakuno retorted in a quiet voice. She still couldn't get used to the family. The Yoshikawa couple had married young and appeared youthful even now, and their family was friendly and, well, in Kei's case, _loud_, but Sakuno couldn't help being formal. Then again, maybe Kei's outspokenness was the cause for her awkwardness. She went to the couch and took her backpack from Ryoma's lap, taking out the breadbox in which she'd packed some slices of chocolate cake. "T-this is for you."

Before Sakuno could hand the breadbox to Mrs Yoshikawa, Kei had grabbed it from her.

"What a shame." he said in a remorseful tone.

"W-what?" Sakuno asked anxiously.

"What a shame that you're serving this unworthy outsider." Kei elaborated, tilting his head in Ryoma's direction. "You cook so well, but you waste all the tasty meals on this… Bum."

Mr. Yoshikawa sat down in the chair next to his frowning wife, and he chuckled.

"That's why you've lost to Ryoma, Kei." he said. Kei looked supremely annoyed at the word "lost", but nevertheless he listened. "You sounded like you want Ryuzaki-san for a housemaid instead of a girlfriend, and she's _dating_ Ryoma, not _serving_ him. Which is what she will be doing if she goes out with _you_." Mr. Yoshikawa concluded. "Ryoma's far more considerate than you are."

Kei turned his eyes suspiciously on his mother.

"Okasan, are you sure that man is my father?" he asked, throwing a sidelong glance at Mr. Yoshikawa.

"No. Seven years ago he found you in the drain and took you home to me." Mrs Yoshikawa retorted heatedly. "Didn't you, Fuyu?"

Mr. Yoshikawa grinned.

"Well, now that you mentioned it Mayuri, I seem to remember it happening…"

Sakuno smiled apologetically when Kei glowered at his father. She looked over to the bed, where Kaori was lying on, motionless for nearly three whole months. She sighed. She was afraid to think of what would happen if Kaori never woke up. Ryoma had promised her that he wouldn't "stop" playing tennis, and Sakuno knew he wouldn't, but it had been two straight months now; she suspected he'd never even touched a racquet since he got out of the hospital. Fortunately, his oyaji, her grandmother and Tezuka seemed to share a silent agreement. As far as Sakuno could tell, none of them had said anything to object Ryoma's decision to temporarily withdraw from tennis.

_"Give me some time, I'll get back stronger… But now just give me some time."_

Those had been his words that day when he'd cried on her, and Sakuno had told him he could take his time.

**~;~**

They left the hospital and for the first time, wandered around for a few minutes before taking a cab to the subway station. Although it was only for a few minutes, Sakuno quickly regretted the walking. Her artful and flirty stilettos (or so Tomoka said, since she was the one who _insisted_ that Sakuno wear them every time she went out with Ryoma), were killing her feet. Sakuno wasn't even sure if Ryoma had _noticed_ them. He'd certainly never mentioned anything.

Then again, Sakuno wondered…

"R-Ryoma-kun?"

"Hn."

"D-did you…" Sakuno could feel the heat creeping up her neck. She was definitely on the way to humiliating herself. They were at the park, strolling at their own pace. Most of those who were "hanging out" around were children, but there was also a number of lovey-dovey couples. Sakuno could never stand the exposure. She was still exhaustively embarrassed being seen with her boyfriend, and it became unbearable when they ran into their classmates or generally schoolmates; if they were girls, they would giggle or glance with obvious envy at Sakuno, and if they were boys, they would loudly greet Ryoma and his "date", which only made Sakuno wish the earth would open and swallow her alive. Keeping her eyes to herself so she wouldn't have to notice anybody recognizeable around the park, Sakuno took a deep breath and tried again. "R-Ryoma-kun… You always stopped to sit when we went out together… And you took the cab to the hospital even though it wasn't that far away… C-Could it be… That you did it because I was wearing high heels?" she asked.

There came no reply.

Sakuno glanced up timidly, and she found Ryoma looking at her with a blank face. Although, she could see… Amusement, in his eyes.

He raised his hand and cuffed the top of her head lightly.

"Of course I did, or else you'd be limping on the way home." he retorted. Sakuno blinked, touching her head, and then she smiled brightly. So he _did_ notice. "I didn't think complaining about what you wear was a wise thing to do," he admitted. Sakuno blinked again, taking in his words. "I learned that from Nanako." he said, sounding reflective.

"D-does that mean I've many… Flaws, in what I wear?"

"Hn." Ryoma confirmed. Sakuno frowned, dejection began to sink in. But then, he stopped walking and turned to her. Sakuno nearly bumped into him. She was a good measure a head shorter than Ryoma, the top of her head reaching only his chin. It was at a moment like this that Sakuno realized how unfairly fast boys could grow. Back when they'd first met, they were quite the same height. He placed his hand on Sakuno's cheek, and made her look up at him. "Your blouse's revealing." he said.

_Revealing?_

"It-it's not at all."

"To me it's enough." Ryoma remarked, and Sakuno's cheeks practically combusted. "Your skirt's too short."

"It-it's not… Too short…"

"To me it's enough."

_W-what could he mean by enough?_

"It-it's a-accept-_acceptable_." Sakuno pronounced with effort, feeling like she'd swallowed her tongue.

"Your perfume's also enough." Ryoma continued. His hand moved up to the back of Sakuno's head, his fingers whirling around some dark locks of her long hair. Whenever they went out, Sakuno didn't braid it. She took her girlfriends' suggestion and fashioned her hair in different ways. One style for one outing. "But your hair…" he said, his voice lowering.

Sakuno could feel eyes gazing at them. The people at the park-she didn't dare count how many-had turned in their way and were rudely staring, looking curious and even entertained. Ryoma didn't seem to mind. He kept inching closer.

"D-don't you like how I styled my hair?" Sakuno asked.

"Your hair's _too much_." he said, stopping an inch before their foreheads touched. Sakuno stared into his brown eyes and couldn't help but notice that they looked clear again. Every time when they looked _that_ clear, Sakuno wondered what he was thinking about, and she had the most shameless idea that whatever it was, she was _involved_ in it. "What's with that face?" he asked in a slow, teasing, knowing voice. "I'm not saying I don't like it."

Embarrassed, Sakuno did her best to control herself from banging their heads together. _That_, would have been a tragedy.

"It-it's not something I usually do." she admitted uncertainly. Although she didn't look, she had a feeling that Ryoma was smiling-or per chance, _smirking_, at her honest revelation. "Tomo-chan and the others say I… I have to do my best to be presentable for Ryoma-kun."

For a moment, Ryoma was silent.

"Really, for me?" he asked. Sakuno nodded earnestly, looking at him to show she was two hundred percent serious. Ryoma brought his fist to his mouth, looking away. He cleared his throat lightly, and maybe Sakuno had been mistaken, but she thought he was _blushing_. When he turned to her again, he simply took her hand and towed her to continue walking. "Let's go."

Sakuno obeyed, but she was convinced that he was somehow shy.

"Are you… Are you shy, Ryoma-kun?" she asked.

He scoffed, rather condescendingly.

"Of course not." he retorted, sounding defensive.

Sakuno smiled, practically bouncing on her stilletos, the aching in her feet at the moment forgotten.

"Ano, Ryoma-kun?"

"Hn."

"About Okumura-san…"

"I met her when I was smaller." Ryoma explained patiently. "We're childhood friends… With child-like stuff passed on between us."

"Does that mean… Okumura-san is Ryoma-kun's childhood sweetheart?"

Ryoma gave it a thought, and he lifted his shoulders in a brief shrug.

"I can't really put it any other way, so yeah, you can say that. But that was long ago." he said, When Sakuno didn't comment, he went on. "Eri's family moved away when we were ten, and we kept in touch through emails and all, but after some time we got busy… Or something." he grasped on Sakuno's hand firmer when she remained silent, and she looked at him with a frown.

"Didn't you feel sad, Ryoma-kun? It's a waste to lose that kind of relationship. It should be treasured."

"A waste…?" Ryoma repeated. Sakuno nodded convincingly, and he raised his free hand to poke at her forehead. "I think you're not normal." he declared. "I thought normal girls were supposed to be jealous or worried themselves crazy at something like that."

Sakuno turned her eyes downcast, blushing.

"I-I didn't worry myself crazy…" she mumbled, not willing to admit that she _had_ been worried. And yes, a bit jealous. "B-but that kind of relationship between Ryoma-kun and Okumura-san really is precious. It's always hard to take care of a relationship with other people, and it's harder when it's long-distance, but they're precious all the same…"

Ryoma seemed thoughtful at her words.

"Oyaji and Okumura Ojisan are friends, but I don't know what Eri's doing in Japan." he said. "Her Japanese was poor back when we were kids. She named a doll she owned "Mekabu-chan"." he revealed, and Sakuno giggled. "I told her "mekabu" was a seaweed, but she wouldn't listen."

"Okumura-san is very pretty. She must've been a cute little girl too," Sakuno suggested.

Ryoma didn't seem to be paying attention. He turned to watch a group of children playing hopscotch near the yellow playground slide. Looking at his face, one could've assumed that he was giving a thought on joining them.

Somehow, Sakuno didn't feel as bad anymore being seen with her boyfriend. She felt lightened and satisfied instead. Maybe it was the fact that Ryoma had explained to her about Okumura Eri. Feeling a lot better, Sakuno lifted her head properly, shyly handing a smile to a mother who was helping her son with a kite at the playground.

**~;~**

Usually, their date took place on Saturdays. Starting from last month Sundays had been dedicated only as the day to visit Kaori, but that Sunday they broke their routine and spent time at the nearby arcade-which they'd actually never yet gone together to, despite the fact that it was the closest place from their house which offered entertainment. Then again, maybe it was because of the short distance that they did not go there, considering there were many familiar faces from school to be seen.

It was well after five when Sakuno came home. She managed to convince Ryoma that he didn't need to see her to her frontdoor, since he would have to backtrack to get home himself. She also knew that her grandmother had gone out and would only return some time later, and she couldn't help but recall what Sumire had said about it.

_"Since I'm not going to be home when you get back, remember not let Ryoma stay too late if he comes in."_

Nervously, Sakuno shook her head over the ringing words. She didn't tell Ryoma that her grandmother wasn't home. She didn't know what his reaction would be or what he would think, not to mention that if she told him about it, it might _give_ him something to think about.

Sakuno fumbled with her keys to open the door, briefly thinking about the meal she could make for tomorrow's lunch break.

"Ryuzaki," a voice called, curt and demanding, mildly startling her.

Sakuno turned to see Eri standing just a few meters from her. Like yesterday, her green eyes were piercing, only right now they appeared even more accusing. Sakuno managed to smile.

"Okumura-san?" she prompted.

"It's not over." Eri announced.

"W-what?"

"Ryoma. He came to see me last night, telling me all kind of stupid things. I get it that he wanted to make a point that he's with you, but it's not over." Eri repeated, looking directly at Sakuno's face. She smiled icily. "The fact that he came over to my house just to tell me that he's "with you" is impressive, isn't it? He went that far, it shows that he _likes_ you, but it also shows that he might still be interested in me. He knows I'm here because of him, so he told me all that because he doesn't want to be distracted from you-by me."

Sakuno didn't really understand, but she didn't like it at all.

"T-that's not true. Ryoma-kun… Is my boyfriend." it took her a lot of courage, but she said it. "Y-you can't just say that kind of thing, saying that "it's not over" like you're going to… Steal Ryoma-kun."

"Are you daft?" Eri asked loudly. "I _am_ going to take him from you. If we think about it, the third party here isn't me. It's _you_. I'm just taking back what belongs to me." she pressed.

"You're not being reasonable… Okumura-san." Sakuno replied, and she hated how her voice had gone soft like always did whenever she was about to cry, and she hated it more how her eyes had watered. She wanted to yell at the girl in front of her, she was angry and sad and afraid, mostly at the girl, but also to herself for not being able to look as confident as the girl seemed. "Ryoma-kun is someone else's boyfriend already." she forced herself to add. "_Mine_."

Eri wasn't perturbed. She stared at Sakuno sharply, and Sakuno kept the eye contact.

"You're not good enough." Eri said.

"A-and you are?" Sakuno returned, barely having control on her voice so it wouldn't shake.

"For one, I'm not going to do nothing about Ryoma not playing tennis anymore. I take it you know how good he is, everybody does. He was going to be number one, but now he's stopped. I can't tell yet why he's staying behind, but I'm going to find out, and then I'm going to help him play again." Eri frowned at Sakuno, looking disgusted. "You've done nothing about that, have you? I heard you and Ryoma started going out after the accident, and it was also when he stopped playing, but he's healed. For two months long, you didn't help him play again. Because without tennis, he's been paying attention to you. It's the only thing more important than you. You're _selfish_." Eri accused. "That's why you're not good enough."

At first, everything seemed too much to be digested. But once the words sank in, Sakuno stared back at Eri in shock.

It was true. For two months long, she had done nothing to help Ryoma play tennis again.

.

.

.


	5. Chapter 5

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Five

"Promise"

* * *

.

.

Echizen Ryoma was _pissed_. Even those who were plain clueless would've noticed. That initially fair-weathered Monday morning had started raining exactly ten minutes before the Japanese language class began. Dour, heavy clouds drifted causatively across the sky following the sudden downpour, closing in the customary rays of the genial sunshine and leaving the classroom lit by the switched-on incandescent lights on the ceiling.

Kobayashi was occasionally being thrown with balled-up tissues by the avid girls from the Theater Club, who took out their frustration on the class president at his failure in persuading Ryoma to take the role of the prince in the upcoming _Cinderella_ play. Horio was busily ticktocking his two pencils against each other, engaging them in an imaginary, fierce battle. Majority of the other students were squirming and scribbling and yawning and even recklessly dozing off in their seat, enduring the torture that was Mr. Yamada's soporific voice. In which ignorance is bliss, the balding Japanese language teacher did not seem to notice his students' lack of interest, and he kept on his Edo's Period poetical speech without a care in the world… Tomoka and Minami exchanged a tormented glance, turning to look at both Kotoko and Sakuno who actually seemed _absorbed_ in their teacher's sleep-inducing preach.

It was in the middle of the lesson that the classroom's sliding door was shoved open unceremoniously from outside. Mr. Yamada stopped talking, and the entire class practically stopped breathing. Ryoma stood in the entryway drenched from head to toe, gripping his wilted bookbag in his right hand. One would've thought that he swam to school. His face was white, his expression was vacant, and he scanned the classroom quietly until his eyes stopped on Sakuno. She frowned and quickly averted her eyes from him, looking suspiciously guilty. Then, despite the grand entrance, Ryoma strolled inside, ignoring the heads which turned to stare at him and heading calmly toward his seat. Water followed him in and pelted the classroom's floor, but nobody had the guts to complain. He'd only taken five steps when a loud, booming voice echoed from the hallway.

"Echizen, didn't you hear me? I say you're not to enter the class like that." the Educational Guidance teacher, Mr. Sawaguchi poked his head inside the class. He frowned criticizingly as he spotted Ryoma. Textbook in hand, Mr. Yamada blinked, joining his students watching the whole drama unfold. "Echizen?" Mr. Yamaguchi called louder. "Do something about your clothes now."

Ryoma changed direction. Instead of heading to his seat, he turned and stopped beside Sakuno. While she seemed frozen in her seat, Ryoma pushed aside her textbook, putting down his dampened bookbag on her desk.

"I'm going to get changed. You dry it." he ordered. "And everything inside it too."

Sakuno stared at the dark-colored bookbag as if it was a creature with three heads and no eye.

"H-how am I… Going to dry it?" she asked in a small voice, her eyes fixed on the bookbag.

Pressing his hand on the desk, Ryoma stooped until his chest touched Sakuno's back, effectively raining her with his dripping hair and overall soaked uniform. The two teachers and several other students raised their eyebrow speculatively, but he didn't seem to care.

"You didn't pick up your phone when I called you yesterday after we went home; I thought something happened. You weren't at the station this morning; I thought something happened. Turned out you just didn't pick up your phone. Turned out you just went to school without me. So go figure." he said flatly. Sakuno focused harder on the bookbag. Ryoma stood up straight. "I'm not done with you yet."

**~;~**

As Momoshiro and Eiji continued their out-of-tune singing and moved in random steps and motions, the two other regulars in the Tennis Club room couldn't help but wonder, whether the sudden downpour had anything to do with the two… Performers.

There was a _click_, and the doorknob turned before the door was reeled open. When their Ochibi sauntered inside, drenched and sullen-looking, they didn't hide their amazement. Eiji jumped and started bombarding Ryoma with salutations and inquiries, while Inui picked up his notebook and jotted down something as his glasses shone.

"You're late, you're soused." Momoshiro observed. "And you look… Troubled."

"And you look constipated." Ryoma replied in monotone, but there was an icy edge to it.

Momoshiro wasn't offended. He grinned as Ryoma opened his locker-which hadn't been opened in the past two months-and dug out his clothes from inside.

"I went to school with Ryuzaki-san this morning." Fuji informed.

"Nya…! Fuji's being the third wheel…!"

Fuji chuckled.

"She was earlier than she was supposed to be I think, and she seemed hesitant at first."

"But in the end she got in the train." Ryoma surmised, pulling his t-shirt over his head after dropping his white, button-up school shirt on the floor.

"She did." Fuji confirmed. "Didn't you go to school everyday with each other? Today she went without you… Did you do something wrong?"

At the question, Momoshiro, Eiji and Inui waited expectantly. Ryoma closed his locker and piled his school uniform together. He sat on a stool to put on a pair of clean shoes.

"No." he retorted blandly, pulling at the laces. "It's all her fault."

"Whoa, he's that confident." Momoshiro gushed, nudging at Inui's shoulder.

"If you haven't noticed, he's always got that in him."

Giving no response to his four senpais' comments, Ryoma stood up. He took the paper bag which he knew belonged to Kaidoh, and fished out the lunchbox and the water bottle he found inside, putting them on the table. After completing his task of emptying Kaidoh's paper bag, he put his school uniform in it and walked to the door.

As soon as he yanked it open, he found Eri standing outside. Instead of looking at Ryoma, she peered to his right to smile at the regulars in the room.

"Ohayo, senpai!" she greeted with a wink. Fuji raised an eyebrow, Eiji blinked, Inui didn't move, and Momoshiro blinked some more. She turned to Ryoma, taking his hand. "Let's skip the next class together, Ryo-chan."

**~;~**

"What did you say?" Tomoka yelled vehemently.

"Sakuno said Okumura went to find her yesterday." Minami contributed helpfully.

"I _know_ what she said!" Tomoka huffed. The other girls in the bathroom turned toward them, but Sakuno pretended to be fascinated with the tissue paper she was using to dry her hands. Tomoka lowered her voice to a whisper. "Okumura said Ryoma-sama went to find her and practically told her not to stir up trouble, because he's with you, didn't she, Sakuno-chan?"

"… Yes."

"What's wrong with that?" Kotoko interjected before Tomoka could speak again. "As you said it, he "practically" told Okumura not to stir up trouble by _reminding_ her that he's with Sakuno."

"There are many things wrong with that." Tomoka declared, sticking out an index finger. "One; it shows that Ryoma-sama understands Okumura enough to know that she's going to _do_ something. It shows that Ryoma-sama understands Okumura enough to know that she _likes_ him and won't just keep quiet even though she knows he already has a girlfriend."

"Don't they know each other since they were kids?" Kotoko countered. "It's not strange that Ryoma-sama understands Okumura, and it's not really a secret Okumura likes Ryoma-sama. _We_ noticed, and we're probably not the only one either. If there's anything to be said about Ryoma-sama going to find Okumura; I'd say that it's a proof of how much Ryoma-sama cares about Sakuno."

"But it's also a proof that Ryoma-sama thinks Okumura attractive, or else he wouldn't have to go and tell everything to her face! He could just ignore her if he doesn't think she's able to sway him!" Tomoka argued.

"That's what _you_ think."

Minami's head turned to and fro following Tomoka and Kotoko's heated debate, but Sakuno wasn't really listening. It was a free period after the Japanese language class, and she had painstakingly taken out every item from Ryoma's bookbag to be dried, before taking care of the dampened bookbag itself. Still, Ryoma hadn't returned after leaving the classroom to get changed. And neither had Eri, after she'd excused herself to go to the bathroom.

Sakuno spent the entire last night thinking about what Eri said that evening. She disagreed on the part that she had been "selfish" because she too, wanted more than anything for Ryoma to play tennis again. She knew tennis was more important than her to him; the sport was literally _himself_ to begin with. Everybody knew that. But the part that she "had done nothing" to help him play again was true. For two whole months, never once had she talked about it to Ryoma, even when she suspected he hadn't touched his racquet again after he was released from the hospital.

She wondered if that was where she'd done it wrong.

"Sakuno-chan!" Tomoka's shrill voice broke Sakuno's train of thought. The enthusiastic girl held Sakuno firmly on her shoulders. "Now that the rival has announced her intention of competing with you, I say this is the time to _defend_, _attack_ and _secure_!"

"_Yes_!" Minami agreed, balling her fist and punching it in the air. "Go Sakuno! Fight-O!"

"Are you girls talking about soccer?" Kotoko asked.

Sakuno threw her tissue in the trash can under the sink.

"Thank you," she said. "But I don't really feel like talking about it right now."

Minami's hand froze midway in its merry circle.

Tomoka gave out a tiny sigh.

"Okay…" she mumbled, touching Sakuno's arm. "You'll definitely _win_, Sakuno-chan." she whispered convincingly.

"Wait, wait." Minami frowned, looking at Sakuno's face as if she was speaking with a delayed toddler. "Remind me to give you my pepper-spray before the school ends today, okay Sakuno? If there's any confrontation with that Okumura girl again, you just shake the bottle a bit and spray her in the eyes."

The "kind" suggestion managed to make Sakuno smile.

"And that's the exact way to fight your love-rival." Kotoko quipped.

**~;~**

Most of the time, if not all the time; everything depends on perspective. Looking from Ryuzaki's and probably many other people's point of view-Eri was trying to _ruin_ a couple's relationship. Looking from _Eri's_ point of view-she was merely chasing what was supposed to be hers. From _her_ point of view, the third party here was Ryuzaki. From _her_ point of view, she could without a question be a better girlfriend than Ryuzaki for Ryoma.

Then again, no matter from which angle people inspected it, she was willing to fight. If Ryuzaki was willing to fight as well, then Eri guessed they would both have to fight. Of course it was true that in the end, the choice was up to Ryoma, but for now, she took it that she had a chance.

She wasn't about to let go. And she certainly wasn't about to let herself lose.

While Ryuzaki was still in a daze and unsure, Eri was _already_ fighting.

"You're as quiet as ever, Ryo-chan." she said, watching Ryoma push his Ponta can in circles on the desktop. They were in an unused classroom at the end of the building, which Eri had found on her second day in the school. To be precise, which a boy from the other class had brought her to during lunch break of that second day in school. "You don't have to worry about class, you know." she told. "It's actually a free period."

"I know." Ryoma muttered short, his eyes never leaving the empty can, using his forefinger to push it lightly around and around.

Eri shifted in her seat, leaning across the table. She put her finger on the Ponta can to stop it from spinning.

"A penny for your thoughts." she offered.

"I'm thinking about you." Ryoma said.

"Oh?"

Ryoma stood straighter, looking right at Eri. She smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"You went to find Sakuno yesterday." it wasn't a question. It was a statement. Eri's smile disappeared, and she did her best not to frown defensively. "Why?" he asked.

The fact that Ryoma could guess what had happened simply by looking at Ryuzaki, ignited even more dissatisfaction in Eri. But then, it also made her determination to win him stronger.

She leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs and taking turn to spin his Ponta can on the desk.

"I just went to ask her why she didn't help you play tennis again." she shrugged.

"I thought I told you I don't need to explain what I do to anyone."

"Well, you don't. So I went to ask her."

"That's not the only reason why you went to find her."

Even the way Ryoma spoke indicated that he was mostly concerned about Ryuzaki. There was also a hint of anger in his voice, although he kept it controlled and in check.

Eri had never been the type to back down, and she didn't plan to be one.

"Are you accusing me as being responsible for your girlfriend's tantrum?" she challenged.

"Sakuno didn't throw any tantrum."

"She left for school without you."

"Must've been something someone said."

"And you're accusing that someone was me."

For a long minute, Ryoma didn't reply. He stared at Eri with absolutely no expression readable on his face, and Eri stared back in annoyance. Why _Sakuno_? Before _Sakuno_ ever arrived, the one girl beside Echizen Ryoma was _Eri_. It only added to Eri's irritation when she saw a thin crimson hairband around Ryoma's right wrist. There was no doubt as to whose it belonged.

"I'm not accusing." he finally said. "I'm just asking."

"Why? Because you suspect me. Which translates as you suspect me, so you're sort of asking with suspicion which would eventually lead to you _accusing_ me." Eri retorted.

"When I asked you that day, you said you didn't come to Japan because of me."

"No. I came to Japan because of you." Eri confirmed. "You asked me whether I came to Japan because I heard about you being "rested" from tennis. So I said no; I didn't come to Japan because you were "rested" from tennis. I came because of you."

"Why?"

"Uncle told Dad you got yourself a girlfriend."

"… Oyaji?"

"Yeah." Eri recalled. "They talked on the phone, and your Dad told my Dad you got yourself a cute girlfriend."

For a moment, Eri thought Ryoma seemed conflicted. Almost like he was silently planning Nanjiro Echizen's untimely, gruesome death.

Then, he stood up. Eri followed him with her eyes until he headed to the door. She rose from her seat.

"Stop it. I've told you I'm with Sakuno." Ryoma said.

That was when the fuse blew. When Ryoma opened the backdoor to the classroom, Eri pushed it shut again and stood between him and the door.

"I used to think it was okay to leave you alone until we've graduated high school at least, because I used to know you as this boy who was dedicated to tennis. I didn't think you'd have time for girls." she explained, casually wounding her arms around Ryoma's neck. "You weren't looking at me as a girl back then, and even if you were, you didn't give me any real thought. We were close… But we were just kids. You've played tennis since you knew how to read, and I was always, always… Second to it." she pulled herself to Ryoma, running her fingers through his damp hair, resting her cheek on his shoulder. He didn't move. "But you know I like you, Ryo-chan… And you know I have your promise; I don't care if it was given when we were kids… If it wasn't broken, when we get older… You're supposed to come back to _me_."

When Eri touched Ryoma's cheek, he simply watched her. But when she moved close to kiss him, he shifted and pulled her hands away.

"We've talked about that promise when I went to your house." he said in monotone.

"That you were sorry?" Eri prompted. She smiled as if it didn't matter. "Yes, you were gentleman enough to mention that." she stepped aside when Ryoma reached for the door. "But if you haven't the slightest feelings for me, Ryo-chan, you wouldn't have followed me in here. Didn't you say you weren't finished with _Sakuno_ yet? You would've went back straight to her." she told.

Ryoma stopped only for the briefest moment, before he slid the door open and walked out.

**~;~**

Sakuno had to admit, sometimes, Ryoma chose the strangest, most unexpected, and most awkward place to suddenly appear and do something which _wasn't_ supposed to be done in public. Unless, of course, if they didn't mind the stares.

The classes had dragged on so slow and tediously that they seemed to end for ever and a day. Sakuno felt bad for not bringing anything for lunch break to give to Ryoma that day, but then, she didn't bring anything for herself too. She also noticed that Ryoma had shared a textbook with Katsuo, considering the one (and only) textbook he'd brought in his bookbag was taking its time to dry. She wasn't sure whether it could still be used, though. Like its owner when he'd showed up in the classroom that morning, the textbook was completely soaked through.

When the bell rang signaling the end of school for that Monday, Sakuno contemplated anxiously about her return journey. Usually she would walk to the station with Ryoma, get in and out of the train with Ryoma, and walk with Ryoma until they had to split following the respective direction leading to their house. And the same routine was used for going-to-school journey. They would meet at the station, get in and out of the train, and walk the rest of the distance to school together.

But that morning she had _intentionally_ left without waiting for him…

Sakuno barely had time to decide. She was packing her things into her bookbag when someone knocked into her from behind. Before she knew it, a pair of arms had wrapped themselves around her, and she felt someone hiding his face in her neck.

If Sakuno hadn't collected her wits and realized that it was Ryoma, she probably would've screamed bloody murder.

"_Eeehh_…!" Tomoka and a few other girls enthused girlishly from around the classroom.

"Ryoma!" Horio gasped out, faking mortification. "What are you _doing_?"

"Does that count as porno?" one of the guys asked dubiously.

It took Sakuno no time at all to turn red.

It had never happened before-that was, Ryoma hugging her like a teddy bear with their classmates around. From the corner of her eye, Sakuno could see Eri staring in their general direction, and she grew uneasy. But when she tried to move, Ryoma squeezed her a bit more, an inch firmer whenever she tried to shift. Other than that, he remained pressed against her from behind, as if he was actually playing the role of a constrictor snake, squeezing its victim every time they moved until they moved no more…

After three trying and turning even redder, Sakuno allowed herself to sigh in defeat. Not to mention, she was starting to feel the lack of breathing space. Fortunately, even while giggling and peeking in excitement, Tomoka and Minami had the decency to usher their classmates to leave. With great fuss and complaints, they filed out of the classroom in crowds-including Eri.

"A-ano, R-Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno called. "C-could you let go?" she felt him move, but he only pulled her closer. It was comfortable, and at other times, she would have sank with him and be willing to stay like this for as long as he wanted. "I-I know you're mad… But…" Sakuno frowned, not really knowing what to say.

Slowly, Ryoma loosened his hold and lowered his hands.

As soon as she was free, Sakuno gripped her bookbag tight and bolted out of the classroom, narrowly dodging the desks and chairs along the way.

Ryoma didn't chase after her.

Not two minutes later, from the classroom's window, he saw her taking a ride on a bicycle as it headed to the school's main gate.

**~;~**

"That was _dangerous_, period." Kobayashi declared for the third time. Sakuno kept her mouth shut, her head bowed, sitting on the passenger's seat behind him. "You don't just jump on other people's bike when they're riding. You and the rider could topple and _die_. Or you could accidentally shove your leg in the rim and end up with one leg." the class president ranted on.

"I'm sorry." Sakuno finally said.

Kobayashi sighed, carefully pedaling past the throng of students.

"S' fine. Just don't jump, yell for me next time." he thought about it for a moment. "Or not. That ego-complex guy seems like he's got jealousy-complex as well… Speaking of which, what happened in the class? Why aren't you going home with him?" he gave those another thought. "Don't tell me he was trying to… Uh, do something you didn't want him to?"

Sakuno blinked.

"No." she retorted, fixing her bookbag in her lap. "Kobayashi-kun? Would it be too much if I ask you to give me a ride until the next turn?" she asked.

"Nah, I'll drop you there." Kobayashi said, and he rolled his eyes when two guys from their class threw him and Sakuno an exaggerated horrified look, laughingly shouting that they were being controversial and guilty to Ryoma. "Shut up! Morons!" he shouted back. Having no heart to think of the teasing, Sakuno heaved out a deep sigh. Kobayashi glanced back at her. "That bad, huh?"

Sakuno smiled, but she couldn't help frowning at the same time.

"Why did you become the class president, Kobayashi-kun?"

"Where did that come from…?" Kobayashi scratched at his head. "Well, I lost a bet. We didn't use money or the sort, but next thing I knew, those guys had bribed most lot to vote on me, so here I am. Class president by trickery."

If her heart didn't feel like it was sinking in the deep ocean, Sakuno would've laughed.

"You're always betting." she said. "And losing."

"Yeah, thanks for reminding." Kobayashi muttered.

Sakuno looked up at the sky. After it rained the entire morning, the sun finally returned.

"I just… I need some time to think." she decided.

.

.

.


	6. Chapter 6

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Six

"Punching Bag"

* * *

.

.

That Tuesday, nothing seemed to change. Although Sakuno had done it yesterday, she found leaving for school without Ryoma today was actually harder than the first time. She ran into Fuji again, and she was grateful he didn't ask anything even when he appeared curious. They sat in the train next to each other, and Sakuno was left pretty much alone to her own thoughts. It didn't rain that day, but Ryoma entered the classroom in the middle of a lesson just like yesterday, marching toward his seat without as much a glance at anyone or a word of explanation about being late. If there was anything to be said, Sakuno would say she was a bit worried. He looked like he was going to get sick.

As soon as Mrs. Habuka, the Mathematics teacher left the classroom, every sleepy eye literally lit up refreshed. The girls were mostly fussing about the upcoming school's tournament. Some students who were managing the stalls were still trying to decide what kind of service they should offer. The class was buzzing with talks of discussions and arguments, but all the while Tomoka and Minami and the other girls chattered, Sakuno shifted restlessly in her seat, unable to pay attention. She tried not to be obvious, but she wanted to just turn to look at Ryoma.

It was when Aoi Mizuki, the class vice president and Sakuno's most dreaded bully, walked to the front of the class that everyone gradually quieted down. With a disdainful look on her face, she picked up a pink chalk and started writing on the blackboard according to the clipboard in her other hand;

_Cinderella: Echizen Ryoma_

_Prince: Ryuzaki Sakuno_

_Duke: Okumura Eri_

_Step Sister 1: Takenouchi Azusa_

_Step Sister 2: Kobayashi Shouta_

Mizuki was about to raise her hand to write the next role when someone slammed his desk loudly, followed by the rattling of a chair as Kobayashi jolted up from his seat. The classroom was silent, but it was more to the fact that nobody had expected the roles to be given to the _opposite_ genders to be played. Mizuki turned around and stared uninterestedly at him.

"What?" she prompted.

"What's _my_ name doing on there?" Kobayashi demanded.

"You're the evil Step Sister." she told matter-of-factly.

"The evil—" the class president did a double take, squinting his eyes at the blackboard. "—_Step Sister_?"

And the whole class exploded in a new tumult of murmurs and loud exclamations.

Mizuki sighed irritably, as if she was dealing with a group of misbehaving children.

"The voting which was held before is used, but the Theater Club members decided to _switch_ the roles. Since Echizen doesn't want to be the prince, he gets to be Cinderella." she told.

Unusual as it was, Ryoma opened his mouth without being asked or forced.

"That's not comforting at all." he said blankly.

"It's not meant to be." Mizuki explained, looking at her clipboard. "There's also Hoshizaki Kyohara, who'll play the Fairy Godmother." she said, her eyes sweeping past the excited girls' faces, and then the boys' as well. "Many seem to think you four guys would look cutest in a dress."

"I'd rather stab myself eighteen times than wearing a ridiculous puffed-up skirt with funny furbelows around it." Kobayashi declared bravely. Most of the guys laughed out loud, grinning from ear to ear when the class president glared at them. "It's you guys again!" he accused.

Mizuki ignored them all. She turned back to the blackboard and continued writing.

Tomoka swirled around to face Sakuno, a wide smile almost splitting her face into half.

"Okumura lost to you by _two_ votes over the Cinderella role, Sakuno-chan." she informed enthusiastically. "Luckily, most of us want to see you and your boyfriend get lovey-dovey on the stage—"

"—or else Okumura might have won." Kotoko chimed in. Tomoka frowned at her. "I'm only reasoning from what I observed about the boys. They think Okumura's pretty, so they want her as Cinderella. Not that it matters now, since the roles ended up switched."

Minami joined in the conversation. Sakuno didn't comment. Kotoko was right; not that it mattered now. She and Ryoma were barely talking.

**~;~**

"Isn't that _sexy_, Ryoma?" Horio prodded as he pushed his chair to stand on its two hind legs, leaning against the front side of Ryoma's desk. Katsuo and Kachiro _tried_ to hide their grin, but failed miserably. "_Cinderella_—" Horio burst out laughing.

For a time, Ryoma kept silent. He didn't move. He stared at Horio vacantly. If only Horio would stop and glance into Ryoma's eyes, he might just notice that they seemed to have grown darker and _murderous_.

Sure enough, as Ryoma stood up, he gave the back leg of Horio's chair a hard abrupt kick, and the laughing boy came crashing down the floor with a loud _bang_ and a louder yelp.

The voices in the class hushed down in surprise, while Katsuo and Kachiro snapped their mouth shut as Ryoma walked past them toward the classroom's door. Quietly, every eye turned from the groaning Horio on the floor to the quiet tennis prince.

"I think he's really mad." Kachiro whispered.

Once the sliding door closed sharply behind Ryoma, Katsuo whispered back,

"You _think_?"

**~;~**

The Tennis Club regulars decided, not only was their Ochibi arrogant and tightlipped, he was also _awfully_ stubborn, to the point where Momoshiro and Eiji were forced to climb through the window to get into the Tennis Club room. It was all because Ryoma had walked in the room and locked himself inside, ignoring everybody who came knocking (Kaidoh even swore to crash in and murder Ryoma barehanded, but the threats did not seem intimidating, because even then they received no response at all). Of course, they would've been able to get in if they had Tezuka or Oishi with them, since the two were the ones who kept the key, but because they had neither captain nor vice captain, they just _had_ to stop Kaidoh from crashing in and murdering their beloved Ochibi, and then climbed through the window instead.

After Eiji had safely landed in the room, he went to Ryoma who was lying idly on the long brown bench near the wall. Eiji removed the cap which covered Ryoma's face, but without opening his eyes, Ryoma seized the cap back and put it again on his face.

"Nya! Bad boy!" Eiji admonished just as Momoshiro jumped in through the window. "You're giving us a hard time, Ochibi!"

"Like he cares." Momoshiro said, actually sounding cheerful. He went to unlock the door, and Kaidoh broke loose from Fuji and Takashi's grasp, stomping into the room determinedly to reach Ryoma. In time, Momoshiro managed to swing an arm around his arm, stopping him from going further. "He's having a hard time, be nice."

"Then, I'm going to pull his head off his shoulders _quickly_." Kaidoh announced. "You're not supposed to drag your love mess in here anyway. If you can't take care of your girlfriend, then don't bother having one."

Ryoma remained silent and unmoving. The whole room fell silent, save for Inui's busy pen which scribbled importantly in his notebook.

Kaidoh blinked once, before his expression changed. It seemed that he suddenly realized he might've said something he shouldn't.

Momoshiro hit him on the back of his head.

"I said be _nice_,"

Kaidoh grumbled, but spoke no more. He turned and stalked to his locker instead, yanking it open so hard he almost ripped the door entirely.

With caution, Momoshiro stooped over Ryoma and took the cap from his face.

"Fuji asked you yesterday, and I'll ask you again today." he said, smiling. "Did you do something wrong?"

At first, only Ryoma's chest moved, heaving calmly as he breathed. It even appeared that he was asleep, but they knew better.

"No." he said, repeating yesterday's answer. "It's all her fault."

**~;~**

In entirety, someone should have either suspected, expected, predicted, or even _known_ something like it would happen. A girl working on alone in the school's musty storeroom which was situated at the farthest, and most infrequently visited school building being harassed by a group of older students-horrifyingly _boys_. Doesn't it happen somewhat a lot in stories? Sakuno had even heard the pretty much same "tragedy" happening in the ghost-stories which Tomoka and Minami told. Fortunately, between the four of them, Sakuno still used her judgment albeit being obsessively nervous, and Kotoko was the most rational of all, so she never believed a word of Tomoka and Minami's questionable ghost-stories.

But then, most of the time, humans are more frightening than ghosts. At the very least, people don't meet ghosts often. And if people do meet ghosts, there's the possibly that people can scare them away with a prayer. Humans aren't that easy. They're much _worse_.

"Look, I told you one day there'd be a catch."

Sakuno froze at the deep, drawling voice. She looked up from her work of examining the boxes in the storeroom, immediately catching the face of a boy-a senior, she decided-standing at the doorway. Her eyes widened a fracture when two other boys appeared behind him, peering interestedly into the storeroom at Sakuno.

She knew she was in trouble right away.

"G-good evening, senpai." she said, forcing herself to stay calm.

"Evening." the first boy returned, smirking appreciatively. His white school shirt wasn't tucked in, but even if it was, he wouldn't look like the most obedient student either. As he walked in the storeroom, Sakuno tried to stay where she was. But she made a mistake. She was scared, so she took a step back from him. He noticed, and his smirk widened. "What's wrong?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm just saying hi."

His friends laughed.

"You're scary, Toshi." one of them jested.

"T-that's not it." Sakuno shook her head, vainly trying to smile and finding herself growing more apprehensive. Her eyes followed every movement the boy made, in panic thinking whether she could be heard if she screamed.

The boy stopped walking, and he sighed audibly, looking at Sakuno with the same amused smirk.

"Don't look so scared. What's your name?" he asked.

"Ryuzaki… Ryuzaki Sakuno." she managed to say.

That got the boy thinking. He frowned, then turned to his friends.

"Sounds familiar." he told.

"M-my grandmother is Ryuzaki Sumire." Sakuno piped in a small voice, hoping it would somehow make them think twice before doing anything… Anything at all.

"Oh." the boy responded meekly. His friends grinned as he moved again, and before Sakuno could flinch away, he had boldly seized her wrist, clutching it. "Your grandmother sounds familiar too, but since I can't remember… Let's just forget about it." he smiled.

"N-no."

Sakuno found herself pushed against the shelf. She quenched her eyes shut when she felt the boy's hand clamping her mouth just seconds after she started to scream.

But that was all.

Suddenly they both heard strings of profanities being shouted by the two boys at the door, followed by the sound of things-or people-slamming against the metallic door and even each other, all the while mixing with angry voices of the two boys and-

"Ryuzaki? Are you still alive?" Kobayashi's voice shouted from outside amidst the din.

Dazzled and confused, Sakuno blinked twice, and the boy who was pressing her against the shelf blinked twice more. He cursed and removed his hand from her mouth, shoving her away before turning to the door.

By then, Kobayashi had reached the entryway looking like he'd just been struck by a lightning. There was no sign of the other two boys.

"You." the senior boy spat.

"Yeah, me." the class president agreed, breathing heavily.

Throwing a spite glance Kobayashi's way, the senior boy trudged across the storeroom, pushing roughly past him. From outside, Sakuno could hear the boy cursing his "useless" friends and urging them to get up. Shortly there were draggy footsteps and murmurs of complaints by the three boys, and one of them shouted a vulgar word and a threat to her class president.

Then, they were gone.

Sakuno didn't really understand what had just happened. She looked at Kobayashi's messy black hair, at his wrinkled school uniform, and lastly at his wondering expression.

"W-what was that, Kobayashi-kun?" she asked.

Kobayashi ran a hand through his hair, frowning.

"I think I've just become your knight-in-shining-armor. Well, figuratively speaking, since I'm not a real knight, and I won't ever wear heavy armor." he replied. Sakuno frowned back. He walked toward her. "What're you doing anyway? Wait, you're supposed to look for things for the stupid play, aren't you? And you're supposed to look for them with that ego-complex guy." he scanned the dim storeroom. "I can't see that ego-complex guy in here."

With a sinking feeling, Sakuno turned her eyes on the boxes of equipments again.

"We're not talking." she explained.

Kobayashi turned to Sakuno. He looked both disbelieving and irritated.

"He didn't come here with you to help? He didn't meet you at lunch break just now? Wait, he didn't even call you last night or anything?" he interrogated.

"No."

"Isn't it a boy's job to make an effort for his girlfriend if they get into a fight?"

"… You ask a lot, Kobayashi-kun."

Kobayashi stopped, giving that remark a thought.

"Right. I notice." he cleared his throat and frowned again, then suddenly he grabbed Sakuno's hand, pulling her to the door. "Let's go."

"G-go where?"

"Find Echizen. I'll shake some sense into him for you."

**~;~**

Even though they had heard that the first-years were having free periods after lunch break so that they could arrange their activities for the anticipated school's tournament, the Tennis Club regulars weren't quite sure why Ryoma never moved from the long brown bench in their Tennis Club room. He had gone to class after locking himself that morning, but during the lunch break he returned to the long brown bench to lie down again, and he hadn't moved at all since then.

"Oy, Ryoma." Momoshiro called, climbing on a table to sit, staring down at Ryoma. "You just want to relax for a while, right? You don't plan to die and rot there too, do you?"

"We all still want to use that brown bench." Kaidoh informed.

Ryoma said nothing.

"Maybe he's already dead." Inui surmised.

"Nya…! Ochibi can't die…!" Eiji mourned spontaneously, but before he could throw himself on Ryoma, Fuji walked over to the brown bench and took away the cap from Ryoma's face.

He pressed his palm on Ryoma's forehead, and it was pushed away instantly, proving that their Ochibi was indeed still alive.

"You're feverish, must've been yesterday's rain." Fuji said. "Go to the nurse, Ryoma."

"I'll be fine if you all just disappear."

"Do you want anything?" Fuji asked.

"A punching bag."

The regulars pondered over their Ochibi's strange request.

"I think he meant an ice bag." Takashi decided.

"Good." Kaidoh said. "Now we've got a sulking, demanding and _half-conscious_ kid here."

"I'm fully conscious." Ryoma retorted plainly. "I want a _punching_ bag."

Before any of them could answer, the door was pushed open from outside. A black-haired boy bowed at them, before directing his eyes on Ryoma on the brown bench.

"Echizen. I want to talk to you." he said. Ryoma didn't respond. "Ryuzaki's waiting in the class. Let's talk now." he said again.

At that, the regulars briefly threw each other one look which contained one hundred and one meanings. What could this possibly mean? They had secretly discussed about Ryoma, Sakuno and Eri's wispy relationship (when Tezuka wasn't there of course, or they'd be running laps until they dehydrated), but now it seemed that a boy was coming in to be the _fourth_ party?

It was Momoshiro who switched into action. He jumped off the table and pulled both Eiji and Kaidoh, even pushing Fuji toward the door.

"Now, now, let the young men have their _important_ talk." he urged, convincing both Takashi and Inui to tag along. "Please, come on in. Make yourself at home." he said to the black-haired boy as they squeezed out of the door.

**~;~**

Before Kobayashi knew it, the six senpais had shut the door with a _click_ and he was left alone with Echizen Ryoma. He looked around the Tennis Club room, realizing it was the first time he'd stepped inside. It was neat and well-supplied. There was a television with all its related appliances and one of the shelves were filled with videos and magazines-unquestionably involving tennis. Typically, there were also lockers, tables, chairs, walls decked of pictures and posters and one hanging uniform and a t-shirt.

Tearing his eyes away from the walls, Kobayashi decided not to wait long. He'd seen Echizen Ryoma paraded throughout the school for years so he knew he wouldn't get any answers if he didn't do something.

He walked to the bench and pulled Echizen by his collar. The boy was quick. He shoved Kobayashi's hand and grabbed his collar tightly in return.

"Don't touch me." he said, but even though his face and his voice were blank, his brown eyes were clearly violent.

"Fine, no touching." Kobayashi said, and Echizen's fingers loosened their clutch. He pushed himself to sit on the long brown bench, and it was then that Kobayashi noticed. He looked sick. "Seriously, Echizen. You're not being a… Uh, gentleman here."

"I don't take chivalry lectures from a boy who was in a gang himself before he became class president after losing a silly bet."

So Kobayashi had to admit Echizen Ryoma had a flair for being sharp and sarcastic. But that was not the point.

"We're not talking about me here." he pointed out. "Aren't you going to do something about you and Ryuzaki?"

"Why do you care?"

"She was bullied by three scumbags at the storeroom just now. You weren't with her when you were supposed to be."

Echizen seemed slightly surprised. He leaned back against the wall, looking up at Kobayashi.

"Is she alright?" he asked.

"Go ask her yourself. And apologize too."

"You're not my mother." Echizen muttered. He closed his eyes with a quiet, long sigh. Kobayashi knew he should leave the room now. Considering his tarnished past record, if Echizen fainted, he might just be accused of attacking or something. And he didn't even lay a finger on the ego-complex boy. Before he could speak again, Echizen said, "I won't apologize."

Really, he wasn't stupid. He didn't expect it would be easy to shake some sense into the ego-complex boy. And now proved it really was _not_ easy. Kobayashi pulled a chair and turned it around, sitting so he could lean forward against the chair's back.

"Look, Echizen. If you're not wrong, you still have to apologize." he said. "It's the way with girls."

"I don't ask for your advice, busybody." Echizen retorted, evidently growing more and more annoyed. Kobayashi also thought he was having a headache. "Go away."

Kobayashi made no reply. He looked at the tennis prodigy intently. Echizen didn't open his eyes even when minutes had passed; he was breathing with more effort than he should, and some strands of his dark hair were sticking to his forehead. He was sweating yet he seemed cold and pale. Obviously there was something wrong.

"Echizen?" Kobayashi called. "If you're not going to do anything to fix whatever's wrong between you and Ryuzaki… Then I'm going to take her from you." he said. He wasn't someone who liked to trample in other people's relationship, but if Echizen wasn't going to appreciate Ryuzaki, then he would. After all, if he gave it a consideration, there was nothing to dislike about Ryuzaki Sakuno. She was cute, she was kindhearted. "I think she'd even be happier with me." Kobayashi said, weighing his words.

He didn't see it coming.

Ryoma opened his eyes and moved, slowly at first. Then, without any warning he punched Kobayashi hard in the face. And he didn't stop there. He practically jumped on the class president until the chair toppled backward, clattering noisily as they both fell to the ground.

"You don't know anything!" Ryoma warned. "She was the one who told me I could take my time, who made me believe she would wait with me until I'm ready again! Then somebody comes tell her something, and she completely _forgets_! She immediately doubts herself, all because she listens to what _others_ are saying! So she thinks about herself, then what about how _I_ feel?"

It had been a long time since Kobayashi was last hit by someone, mainly because he knew how to fight well, but today he couldn't find a chance to fight back. Echizen apparently knew how to fight just as well, giving no opportunity for Kobayashi to even shield himself, treating him like a punching bag.

It seemed that Echizen was pouring out his frustration, long-suppressed anger, and maybe even pain, all on Kobayashi.

In the middle of his outburst, he collapsed, hitting the floor beside Kobayashi in a dull thud. His eyes were closed, and he seemed worn-out.

"The hell…" Kobayashi cupped his bleeding nose, turning to stare at the motionless boy. "He doesn't look all that savage…"

But at least, looking at both of them, anybody would've noticed who had attacked who.

.

.

.


	7. Chapter 7

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Seven

"Baby Pictures"

* * *

.

.

Eri found their class president in the hallway not far from the school's clinic. He sat comfortably on the floor next to the vending machine, holding a can of grape juice and a pack of melon bread. There was a plaster on the left side of his forehead, another plaster on his right forearm, a bruise on his nose, and some signs of blood on his lips. Not that any those small wounds really mattered. Eri had heard from Aoi Mizuki that Kuroboshi Shouta was formerly a delinquent before he was magically voted as their class president. According to the other guys, he wasn't bad, just undisciplined. Even the teachers had said so.

"Kuroboshi." Eri called as soon as she was near enough.

The melon bread stopped an inch from the class president's mouth. He looked up at Eri strangely, before he frowned.

"It's _Kobayashi_." he told.

"That's what I said." Eri returned. Kuroboshi looked slightly annoyed, but didn't argue. He ignored Eri as she continued standing towering in front of him, giving attention only to his melon bread and his grape juice. Eri observed that Ryoma had given him quite a beating, but the class president wasn't exactly bothered. He didn't even flinch as he ate. "I want to know what you and Ryoma were talking about in the Tennis Club room." Eri said.

"Why don't you go ask Echizen?"

"He wouldn't tell me."

"Then why do I need to tell you?"

"Because you have nothing to do with the matter."

"And what about you?"

"I'm the one doing the _asking_ here." Eri reminded impatiently. She was irritated, but it seemed so did the class president. He looked at her as if she was the most-twisted creature he had ever seen in his life. "What're you looking at?" she challenged, holding her head high.

Unperturbed, Kuroboshi averted his eyes and returned to his meal.

"I don't have anything to say. If you want to know anything, go ask Echizen." he said simply. Instead, Eri crouched down in front of him, grabbing his melon bread and his grape juice from his hands. She took them away quickly so he had no time to react, and when she threw both the bread and the juice into the trash can, he abruptly stood up. "What the hell's wrong with you?" he almost shouted.

Exactly as Eri thought. She wasn't about to give in just yet. How hard could it be, anyway?

"I want to know what you and Ryoma were talking about." she repeated. Kuroboshi seemed like he wanted to hit her, but Eri knew he wouldn't. He was that kind of guy who thinks twice before lying a hand on girls, and it only gave her the more advantage. Eri walked closer to him, and he stood motionless when she touched his shirt collar. As far as looks went, she decided Kuroboshi passed the test. The girls did pick the four "cutest" guys in class to be Cinderella, Step Sisters and Fairy Godmother, after all. Eri leaned to his ear. "And if you don't tell me, I'll scream right now… I'll tell everyone that you tried to touch me." she whispered.

**~;~**

After getting news that Ryoma had fainted (which had been delivered by Eiji to the class himself), Sakuno had rushed to the school's clinic. She'd been even more surprised to see her class president injured. Before leaving the school's clinic (to get some food as he informed her he was starving), Kobayashi had told Sakuno to listen to anything Ryoma might want to say.

Mrs Manabe, the school's nurse, seemed entertained at how concerned Sakuno was about Echizen Ryoma. Since the first-years were having free periods, she had allowed Sakuno to stay at the clinic until her boyfriend woke up.

While Mrs Manabe rambled on and on about teenagers nowadays always getting into a fight, Sakuno sat quietly in a chair next to Ryoma's bed, watching him with a portion of guilt in her heart. Come to think of it, Ryoma hadn't really done anything wrong. She was swayed by what Eri had said; she became worried and undecided, then the next day she had left for school without him. Only the day before they had gone out together to visit Kaori, hadn't they?

What was it all about?

"I'm such an idiot…" Sakuno closed her eyes and heaved out a deep sigh. When she opened them again, she almost jumped in her seat. Ryoma was awake, and his brown eyes stared at her as if they had been doing it for a long time. Sakuno decided although they were beautiful, they were sometimes scary. She smiled at him. "How are you feeling, Ryoma-kun?"

He didn't reply. He turned his head to survey across the room, taking note of the picture frames and latticework which hung on the clinic's peach-colored walls. He looked at the row of neatly arranged beds around him, then finally returned to look at Sakuno.

"Where's pervert-kun?" he asked in his monotonic voice.

"Pervert-kun… Oh, Kobayashi-kun's gone out to buy some food." Sakuno said. Mrs Manabe didn't move from her desk at the far end of the clinic, only stopping her rambles before continuing her work. Sakuno put a palm on Ryoma's forehead and another palm on her own forehead, comparing their body temperature. "You're really warm, Ryoma-kun. You shouldn't have gone to school this morning." she said with a frown.

"I'm fine." Ryoma objected, although he seemed otherwise. He was still pale and sweating cold. But as Mrs Manabe had said it, the fever was nothing that couldn't be fixed. "Did you see pervert-kun before?" he asked again.

Sakuno was sure it had something to do with the little wounds inflicted on the class president.

"Um, what happened?" she asked.

"Nothing." Ryoma retorted, averting his eyes from her. Sakuno thought this was the time to ask him whether he had anything else to say to her. After all, Kobayashi did remind her to "listen" to anything Ryoma might have to say, but before she could ask, he took her hand and held it with his own. "I think I'll come back to the team." he prompted.

At first, Sakuno didn't really understand, nor did she really listen. But once she grasped on the meaning of his words, her eyes widened comically with sheer joy.

"You will?" Sakuno blurted out, too surprised and excited and relieved and much more that her voice went a few notes higher than she intended it to be. Mrs Manabe looked up from her desk, Ryoma even raised an eyebrow, and she blushed furiously. "I-I mean… Y-you will?" she asked quieter, but her bright smile was too large to be missed.

Ryoma looked at her for a moment, and then he smiled, lightly, with a hint of a smirk in it.

"You sounded like I've just accepted your marriage proposal." he told. Sakuno blinked, her cheeks darkening into another shade of red. Ryoma used the hand which wasn't holding her hand to gesture at her. "Come over here." he said.

Sakuno moved away instead.

"W-what?"

"Come over here." Ryoma repeated patiently.

Sakuno had the flickering idea of what he wanted, because his eyes had that crystal look in them again. She turned back nervously to look at Mrs Manabe. The nurse seemed absorbed in her work, reading a black file which was sprawled open on her desk.

Feeling somewhat adventurous and sneaky, Sakuno leaned forward from her chair, and Ryoma pulled her by the waist toward him. And as he pressed his lips on hers, he did it all over again. His hand, moving like it was a habit up to the back of her head, maybe a little impatiently this time, unwinding the pink ribbons which kept her long hair in braids. Sakuno could feel his warm, feverish breath, and she wondered if she was about to get a fever too. Ryoma pulled her closer until her knees knocked against the metal part of the bed, and she was half-climbing to kneel in front of him before she realized they _had_ to stop now. Somehow, he was being more fervent than usual, and when she felt his cold fingers on her neck, she knew she had to stop him before it progressed any farther.

"Ryoma-kun," Sakuno whispered, pulling back. Ryoma didn't seem to hear her, and Sakuno had to pry his fingers from her school uniform. Maybe it was because of the fever. Or maybe not. She could never be sure with him. She glanced back at Mrs Manabe, relieved the old nurse hadn't been paying attention. But then, even if she had, they wouldn't have known. "I-I think you should lie down again, Ryoma-kun."

Reluctantly, with quite a pitiful expression, Ryoma lowered himself to the bed and slumped down again, squeezing his eyes shut. He rubbed his fists on them like a small child rubbing off sleep from himself.

"I can return to class now." he said as he grimaced and pressed a fist lightly to his temple.

"I think you have a headache, Ryoma-kun." Sakuno presumed, sitting again in her chair, carefully fixing her demure school uniform. Ryoma opened his eyes and looked at her for a long time, not saying anything, only lying on the bed and _looking_. Sakuno tried to look back, but then she grew more and more nervous. "W-what is it…?" she asked.

"Are you happy?" he asked. Sakuno racked her brains for what the question could be about, but failed to decide. "Are you happy with me?" he asked again.

"Oh." Sakuno smiled, shyly, nodding without even noticing. "Yes…"

"Are you happy I'm returning to the team?"

At that, Sakuno clenched her hands together, full of spirits. She punched her fists animatedly in the air.

"More than… More than anything!" she declared loud, imitating Tomoka and Minami. Ryoma seemed amused, although he didn't make a comment. She turned to peer at Mrs Manabe, and the old nurse quirked up an eyebrow at them. Sakuno smiled sheepishly. "I-I'm sorry …"

With a knowing look, Mrs Manabe rose from her desk, walking over toward them.

"I think you still look terrible." she informed. Ryoma said nothing, and he lied obediently as the nurse examined him and took his temperature again. "How are you feeling?"

Ryoma hadn't the time to answer. Suddenly they heard a girl's piercing scream from outside the clinic, startling all three of them.

"That's Eri's voice." Ryoma said.

As he quickly climbed out of bed, Sakuno helped him to stand, before they both rushed to the door following Mrs Manabe.

**~;~**

The hallway was being surrounded by some first-year students and teachers by the time they reached the area.

Sakuno immediately saw Kobayashi as he stood beside the Educational Guidance teacher, Mr. Sawaguchi. She also noticed Eri was staying close to their Mathematics teacher, Mrs Habuka, who seemed to be trying to calm her down. From the look on Eri's face, Sakuno assumed something bad had just happened. Her school uniform seemed crumpled, as if she had just come out from a street fight.

"What is it?" Sakuno heard Ryoma ask, and the boy nearest to them nudged his head at their class president.

"That girl claimed Kobayashi did something to her." he said.

Sakuno was surprised, and she quickly turned to look at Kobayashi. He wasn't looking in their direction, but as Mr. Sawaguchi continued to bombard him with questions, Sakuno thought the class president seemed casual enough.

"I'll go and see Eri." Ryoma said, and Sakuno nodded.

Whispers from the watching students began to rise around them, and after a while, Mr. Sawaguchi motioned for Kobayashi to follow him to the principal's office. He caught Sakuno's eye as he walked past her, and he shrugged half-heartedly when Sakuno threw a questioning look at him.

"Kobayashi-kun?" she called.

"S' nothing." he said, and like the rest of the students, Sakuno watched him and Mr. Sawaguchi leave.

**~;~**

Strange as it was, Eri seemed to be avoiding Ryoma instead of wanting to see him. Sakuno thought it was expectable that she would want to talk to Ryoma about what had happened, but when Ryoma had tried to approach her in the hallway, Sakuno noticed Eri had intentionally left with Mrs Habuka, and even after they returned to the classroom, she only stayed within Mizuki's group of friends and listened silently to what their other classmates were saying as they discussed about what they had just heard happening in the hallway. Not like usual, she barely even glanced at Ryoma. Instead, she appeared to be lost in thought. Sakuno wasn't sure if she was entirely correct, but from the look on Eri's face as everybody around her talked and tried to soothe her, Sakuno thought Eri wasn't really paying attention.

"She doesn't even look like she needs all the calming words." Tomoka muttered skeptically. "For a girl who's just been "harassed", she seems fine to me, not traumatic at all."

"I hope President's fine too, the school can't just expel him could they?" Minami asked anxiously. She leaned across the desk and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I don't think President did anything to Okumura."

"Of course he didn't." Tomoka harrumphed. "I don't know him that well, but he's cute."

"What does being cute have anything to do with not being guilty?" Kotoko questioned.

"Well then, he's cute and problematic _but_ doesn't look like a pervert." Tomoka elaborated huffily.

Sakuno almost smiled at the "pervert" word, remembering that it was a nickname Ryoma had seemed to give Kobayashi.

"Maybe he didn't do it," Kotoko began. "But I wouldn't be too sure. He's a boy, and his past record isn't exactly good. I don't even know how someone like him became class president."

It was a natural event; words travel fast because people talk about everything they hear. And as Sakuno's three friends continued devising guesses and possible conclusions, Sakuno turned to see how Ryoma was doing. He had stubbornly demanded to be let out of the clinic to return to the classroom, and Mrs Manabe had seemed like she wanted to tie him to the bed, but finally she had let out a big audible sigh, and nodded for Ryoma to leave. Her only warning was that if Ryoma fainted again that day, the clinic wouldn't accept him and he would have to be put away in the dusty storeroom until school ended. But of course they knew the old nurse was only bluffing.

Sakuno saw that Ryoma was sitting with his chin resting on his arms on the desk, and although he seemed sleepy, he appeared to be listening to what Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo were vehemently arguing about. The three boys apparently had the same routine as Tomoka, Minami and Kotoko, gathering at Ryoma's desk exactly the way the girls gathered at Sakuno's.

Ryoma glanced up and saw her. He blinked slowly a few times, his expression dreamy. When Sakuno intended to smile at him, Ryoma's eyes drooped further and finally ended up closed. She wanted to giggle, but she resisted because her friends were too near. So maybe she was wrong. He wasn't _completely_ awake in the first place.

"No, no, that's not what I meant." Sakuno heard Minami say, and she turned back to her friends. Minami was frowning intently, stooping even closer toward the three of them. "I mean haven't you noticed? President's never had a girlfriend, never agreed to a confession from a girl, and we've been in the same class with him for years. So I suspect President's actually a homophile… You know, he likes _boys_." Minami whispered.

The three of them fell silent. Tomoka frowned deep, her eyes wandering to the ceiling as she pondered over the theory. Kotoko leaned back in her chair, turning her eyes the other way as she contemplated the possibility. On the other hand, Sakuno bit her lip trying not to laugh.

"Ano, Minami-chan." she said. "Kobayashi-kun likes _girls_."

"How would _you_ know that?" Tomoka and Minami demanded in unison, while Kotoko stared at her with an expectant look.

Immediately, Sakuno regretted having spoken up.

"It's because Kobayashi-kun and Mizuki-san had been dating in middle school." she told, and when she caught the various expressions which broke on her friends' faces, she hastily added, "Not many people knew about it back then, and I think not many people know right now either. I only found out by coincidence, so please keep it quiet."

Of course, Sakuno didn't add that it was also the reason why Aoi Mizuki had first begun to dislike her, because her friends weren't even aware of the fact that the class vice president _disliked_ her.

**~;~**

They planned on taking a ride with Sakuno's grandmother to go home that day. The tennis coach herself had sternly forced Ryoma to agree after she found out the tennis prodigy had made quite a scene in the Tennis Club room. That way they also had the time they needed to stop by the tennis court after school ended, since Ryuzaki Sumire still had a few matters she needed to finish. Ryoma decided to let Tezuka be one of the first to know about his comeback, and after that he would tell Sumire and the rest who mattered. Sakuno decided she didn't really mind. Either way, he was finally returning to the team.

"But I think buchou won't even be surprised." Ryoma predicted, sounding almost mournful. Maybe Sakuno was being too anticipating, she couldn't stop herself from tugging at Ryoma's arm, fiddling with the crimson hairband he still wore around his right wrist. Not that he was complaining, he even seemed pleased as she clung to him. "Do you want to punch the air like before and break the news to them?" he offered as they almost reached the tennis court. Sakuno shook her head smilingly. "But you're almost floating." Ryoma pointed out.

"I'm really happy for you, Ryoma-kun." she expressed for the umpteenth time. Then, as she was suddenly struck by the idea, she frowned. "B-but… You haven't touched a racquet for two months haven't you Ryoma-kun? W-would you remember all the moves? A-and—" Sakuno stopped when Ryoma turned to her, staring at her blankly. "—I-I mean…"

"Don't look down on me. I've played tennis since I was a baby." he gloated. Sakuno pursed her lips thoughtfully. "You don't believe me?" he challenged.

"W-well…"

"I'll show you soon." Ryoma said.

"Eh?" Sakuno frowned at him, wondering how he could show something like _that_ to her now. Surely he couldn't just turn into a baby again to play tennis in front of her. "Oh. So you have pictures when you were a baby then, Ryoma-kun?" she guessed.

"I wouldn't show you my baby pictures even if I die." he said bluntly.

Sakuno frowned again, but this time in dissatisfaction. Now that he'd mentioned them, it only made her _want_ to see his baby pictures.

They stepped in the tennis court, immediately seeing the regulars hanging around, practicing and shouting out loud. Eiji was apparently trying to hide behind Fuji as Kaidoh seemed to be lashing out angrily about something at him. Momoshiro scratched his back with his racquet and yawned uninterestedly, Inui drank yet another glass of green juice, while Takashi busied himself staring at the network strings of his racquet. Tezuka watched from a distance with Oishi standing next to him, talking quietly with each other. The remaining Tennis Club members lurked here and there, swinging racquets and picking up scattering tennis balls.

"W-why won't Ryoma-kun show me his pictures when he was a baby?" Sakuno asked.

"Because it'd be humiliating." Ryoma said matter-of-factly.

"It-it won't be." Sakuno protested. "If you won't let me see those pictures, how would you show me you could play tennis since you were a baby?" she tried to make a point.

Ryoma watched the Tennis Club members silently for a while. Sakuno thought he was almost wearing that composed, prepared look he used to wear back when tennis had been practically _everything_ in his life. Back when she hadn't been a part of him.

Without taking his eyes from the court, Ryoma smirked lightly.

"When we get married, I'll teach our twelve children to play tennis when they're still babies, that's how I'll show you." he planned cleverly.

"T-twelve children…" shocked and embarrassed, Sakuno hung her mouth speechless, and before she could stammer out an answer, he had run over toward his senpais, announcing his long-awaited arrival at the court.

.

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	8. Chapter 8

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Eight

"The Future"

* * *

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After confirming that Ryoma's fever was gone (after three days of being absent from school following the day when he'd collapsed); they went for a date at the beach on that amiable-weathered Saturday evening. The patterns of sunlight were lustrous, bright but not intense. Living humans of diverse ages could be seen everywhere, floating about on the water and mingling with volleyball games and fragile sandcastles and people-buried-under-the-white-sands and sunbathing-girls-in-cute-bikinis and lovey-dovey couples and flirtatious-boys-trying-to-make-a-good-catch. Small children were running and digging sands with their plastic shovels. Moving vendors waited at their stalls that had large colorful umbrellas which shadowed them over; offering ice creams, candies and pretty handicrafts. Loud voices and cheerful laughter abounded the area good-humoredly, and Sakuno thought as she watched the activities go by, she'd never known before that sitting on a plump rock under the shade of a large bushy tree while eating a cone of blueberry ice cream could feel so heavenly.

Or in Ryoma's case, sitting on a rock under a tree while eating a double cone of French vanilla and a chocolate fudge with rainbow sprinkles on top. In fact, the double cone of French vanilla was his _second_ serve in fifteen minutes.

Sakuno wasn't exactly surprised. She'd long noticed that her boyfriend had _quite_ a large appetite. She'd seen him compete with Momoshiro to eat a larger number of hamburgers, and she'd wondered at how _spacious_ the hole in the boys' tummy must be. Thank God they always had those arduous tennis practices to burn all the unnecessary calories they consumed. After all, Ryoma looked as good as any boys his age could've looked without a shirt on.

Thinking about her boyfriend without a shirt on made Sakuno blush, and she forced her attention back on her blueberry ice cream, trying her best not to _peek_ at the shirtless tennis prince sitting next to her.

"Do you know where pervert-kun lives?" Ryoma asked, cutting Sakuno from further thoughts.

"We went to Kobayashi-kun's house once when we were in middle school." Sakuno said.

"You still remember the direction?"

"Um, it isn't that far away. I think I remember." Sakuno watched Ryoma's face intently, curious as to why he was asking. "Do you want to visit Kobayashi-kun, Ryoma-kun?"

"Hn."

Sakuno smiled.

"Kobayashi-kun lives in a big house." she told, recalling how Tomoka had nearly fainted. But then, so had their other classmates and herself. "It's just we didn't expect it."

"I know. I heard he's a rich brat who pedals to school." Ryoma retorted uninterestedly.

"Then we'll go to his house today." Sakuno agreed, smiling.

Like Ryoma, Kobayashi hadn't been to school after he was suspended for Eri's case. She was glad Ryoma was being so nice as to visit their class president.

Sakuno was concentrating on biting around her cone when Ryoma cupped her face with his hand, using his thumb to wipe away a smudge of ice cream from the corner of her mouth. When she looked at him, he looked back and smiled, innocently putting the same thumb in his own mouth.

"Hn. Blueberry. Not my favorite." he decided, before leaning over to kiss her quickly but firmly, on the mouth. He stood up from the rock they'd been sitting on, his double cone and his sprinkled fudge finished. "Wait for me, I'm thirsty." he said, walking away toward the many stalls on the sandy slopes.

Sakuno watched him in silence, blushing red. Gingerly, she touched her lips with her fingers, where she'd tasted the faint flavors of vanilla and chocolate.

**~;~**

For a fact, Takenouchi Azusa was a complete jerk who happened to openly admit himself as being a playboy. He was one of those good-looking guys who _knew_ they were good-looking and used their good-look as a magnet for silly girls. Sometimes, when they felt like making an effort, they _pretended_ to be nice, and girls went tumbling over them head over heels. Other times, they switched to being a complete jerk and still, no less girls came tumbling over them head over heels. Because either way, the good-look was a head-start bonus.

Not that any of those really mattered. Eri wasn't kissing Azusa because she liked him. She was kissing him because she was bored. And highly likely, so was he.

"Shouta didn't touch you, did he?" Azusa asked. Hearing the class president's name, Eri's mood entirely disappeared. She pushed Azusa away, taking her glass of strawberry smoothie. He watched her with a knowing smile, lying propped on his elbow on the sand. "I know who you're aiming for, Eri. It's that tennis guy, isn't it?" Azusa guessed, and he chuckled when Eri's glass stopped an inch from her mouth. "You could've got Shouta expelled, you know."

"That's what Kuroboshi deserves for meddling in other people's business." Eri retorted.

Azusa laughed.

"Kobayashi." he said. "It's _Kobayashi_ Shouta."

Eri ignored him and took a sip of her strawberry smoothie, watching a group of children chasing a hermit crab heading seaside.

She hadn't screamed because she'd failed to get Kobayashi tell her what she'd wanted to know. She'd screamed because of something he'd said.

"_You know what your problem is, Okumura? You don't know when to let go. You're like a spoiled kid who does whatever you need to get whatever you want. The difference is, you're not a kid. You're smart, and I'm not as stupid as I seem. We both know I'm right."_

Eri had never been as angry as when he'd said those. Without even thinking, she'd tugged at her school uniform and screamed. But he hadn't even tried to stop her.

Eri still wanted the class president to take back what he'd said. For a while, she'd forgotten about Ryoma as his words and the calm look on his face replayed in her mind. He'd made himself the newest subject of her hate and she wanted to slap him, but for now, at least she'd got him suspended for two weeks. Maybe some time later, she could try for something more.

And then there was _Echizen Ryoma_. Even when he hadn't been to school since Wednesday, news about him going to return to tennis had spread throughout the school like wildfire. Even people who didn't know the first thing about tennis talked of the comeback. After all, Seigaku was famous for its tennis team and Ryoma was one of the greatest players.

Eri hated the joyful smile she'd seen on Ryuzaki Sakuno's face the past three days in school.

"Oh hey, look." Azusa pointed back toward where some vendors could be seen. "Isn't that your tennis guy, Echizen?"

Eri turned around and caught sight of Ryoma. He was holding a can of Ponta and standing in front of a stall which sold a variety of handicrafts. Only in his shorts without any shirt on, Eri could see _Sakuno's_ crimson hairband he always wore on his right wrist even more clearly. One day, Eri decided silently, she would pull that hairband from his wrist and throw it away.

"Do you know why Ryoma returns to tennis?" Eri asked, not taking her eyes from Ryoma.

Azusa shook a soda can, popping it open with his forefinger. He shrugged carelessly.

"You tell me." he said.

"Even a fool would've known why he returns to tennis." Eri said sharply, glaring at him.

Azusa glanced over at her, grinning.

"Then I'm more or less below a fool." he told. "So why is it he returns to tennis?" he asked.

Why did some people act the way Takenouchi Azusa did, Eri would never understand. Not that she cared.

"Just shut up." she stood, seizing her towel and her handbag on the sand, turning toward the direction of the public bathrooms.

"Aren't you going to find your tennis guy?" Azusa asked from behind.

Eri made no reply, but she told herself she wouldn't.

Not today.

**~;~**

It wasn't exactly in Sakuno's comfort zone to be wearing a bikini. The last time she had worn one was back when she'd been a little eight years old girl, going for a picnic at the beach with her family. Despite herself, after Ryoma had called her yesterday informing they were going to go to the beach, she'd fished out her long-forgotten, cerulean blue piece of bathing suit in the back of her wardrobe. After all, it was the first time that they were going to the beach together.

But then again, ever since they'd stepped in the open air, Sakuno hadn't removed her pink fluffy towel from around her shoulders. Even when she'd laid out a blanket to be their picnic spot, she'd remained wrapped in her huge towel and her own modesty. Fortunately, Ryoma hadn't made any comment.

A large, round and colorful beachball came bouncing lightly toward Sakuno, and she caught it with her hands. Not long a group of six children came running toward her, laughing and yelling at each other.

"Gomen, onee-chan!" one of them shouted from afar.

Sakuno smiled and waved at the small boy. As she waited, someone took the beachball from behind her, and she looked up to see Ryoma staring at the happy children.

He put down his Ponta can and carried the colorful beachball with him, walking down the slope. Then, he gave the large ball a mighty blow, kicking it with his barefoot, and the large, round plaything was flung over toward the children, flying high.

The six kiddies screamed and scattered around delightedly, laughing and giggling and trying to avoid being the victim of the beachball.

Ryoma chuckled, but when he noticed Sakuno watching him with a loving smile, he scoffed and immediately put on his cool expression again.

"You like children, Ryoma-kun?" she asked as he sat down on the purple blanket which she had spread in front of the rock.

"I like children the way I like ducks."

_Eaten_.

Sakuno giggled.

"No you don't." she said.

Ryoma took his Ponta can and sipped from it.

"No I don't," he agreed. "That's why I want twenty four children when we get married. I want our house full of yells and giggles and you shouting for everybody to be quiet." he told, and he sounded as if he'd been imagining the situation for some time now.

Sakuno blinked, feeling a rush of heat creeping up her neck. But she suspiciously thought that the last time he'd said he wanted _twelve_ children, not twenty four.

"B-but Ryoma-kun won't definitely marry me." she had to gather her courage to say it. Ryoma sat in front of her, not interrupting. "Later we're going to go to college, and maybe Ryoma-kun's going elsewhere for tennis." Sakuno pointed out, and the more she thought about it, the more sad and suddenly afraid she became. What was she talking about? The future. Why was she talking about the future? "A-and maybe… Maybe then Ryoma-kun would find another girlfriend."

Who was she kidding? Maybe their relationship wouldn't last until the end of this year. Things happen, don't they?

Feeling heavyhearted, Sakuno's shoulders slumped.

How did she even get to the depressing topic?

Quietly Sakuno felt a pair of arms around her, and she was pulled into a firm embrace by Ryoma. Before she could stop herself, tears came trailing down her cheeks like downpour and her body shook uncontrollably against his. If the people at the beach happened to stop and stare, they would've thought somebody had died.

Ryoma pressed his lips on Sakuno's ear, and she actually felt them move into a smile.

"I've no idea why you're crying so sadly." he whispered to her, pressing a soothing palm on her back. It only encouraged Sakuno to cry more, and she shamefully hid her face in his bare shoulder. "So even if this doesn't last forever—" Sakuno nearly choked on her sobs at those words; _this_ must've referred to their _relationship_, wasn't it? "—so even if you dump me someday and get married to some other guy, I could still always point it out to you that you owe me twenty four children."

Sakuno frowned.

"I-I don't think I'll be the one dumping Ryoma-kun," she mumbled, but she smiled at the thought of owing Ryoma twenty four children. Sakuno moved along when he pulled her from the rock to sit on their thick, fluffy, purple blanket. She collected her courage again and quickly kissed his shoulder and his neck. She looked at him shyly then, and Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "W-what?"

"Were those all?" he asked, sitting straight in front of her. Sakuno stared when he closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly to one side. As if he was waiting for another kiss. "Now?"

And so Sakuno plucked up every little bit of courage she still had and held Ryoma's face with terribly shaking hands. They stopped shaking when he put his hands gently on hers, and she plunged headfirst, leaning forward to kiss him.

In all her clumsiness, she nearly knocked her forehead against his, and she didn't aim right.

Ryoma opened one eye to peer at Sakuno's blushing face.

"Are you trying to bite my fine nose?" he asked.

"I-I'm sorry…" she whispered miserably. It wasn't their first kiss, but it was the first time she was making her own move, and she was moving it humiliatingly. Ryoma closed his eye again, and this time, Sakuno made sure she was close enough not to miss, before she shut her eyes and kissed him. She succeeded. "W-was that right?" she asked with some excitement.

But just as Sakuno pulled back, Ryoma pressed her hands to stay on his cheeks and caught her mouth again, prolonging the kiss tenderly in that way which always made her head spin.

It was only when Sakuno desperately needed to breathe that Ryoma broke away. The sun was dazzling, but she thought it couldn't compete with the light smirk on his face.

"Mada mada dane." he said. While Sakuno sighed, he pulled out a plastic from his pocket, showing it to her. "Here."

There was a shiny, pastel green butterfly hairpin inside.

Sakuno smiled beamingly.

"It-it's beautiful." she breathed.

"Don't sound so shocked, it's just a cheap handiwork." Ryoma frowned mildly, but as soon as he handed it to her, Sakuno ripped away the plastic and gratefully replaced her hairpin with the butterfly one, arranging her long brown hair in a neat bun on the back of her head.

"Thank you so much, Ryoma-kun." she smiled and continued to beam at him.

Ryoma turned away and drank his Ponta. But Sakuno suspected he was hiding a blush.

**~;~**

When he'd first heard that Kobayashi Shouta lived in a big house, he hadn't expected it to be an expansive building of ivory-and-pale-pink harmoniously painted with an imposing automatic gate perched up a _long_ distance from the main building itself, along which ran a spacious, lush green lawn. There was a garden of multicolor flowers which bloomed fragrantly and a marble sculptured fountain at the right side of the massive double door of the building.

To be concise, Ryoma thought curiously, the pervert lived in a mansion.

"Do you think he rides a bicycle to school as an exercise?" he asked, staring at the shining black limousine parked nearby.

"I-I really don't know." Sakuno replied in a small voice. From the way she looked up at the oaken door in front of them, Ryoma could tell she was feeling very intimidated. The massive wings of the double door opened with the slightest creak, and Sakuno bowed deeply at the uniformed maidservant who greeted them. "S-sorry for disturbing."

Before the maidservant could even speak, a familiar voice shouted from somewhere inside.

"Ryoma? Is that finally you?"

Sakuno turned to Ryoma, puzzled.

"H-Horio-kun?" she asked.

Ryoma nudged with his head to the front instead, and Sakuno turned again, this time seeing a very irritated-looking Kobayashi standing a few meters from the maidservant. From wherever Horio was, there came a lot of sound which suggested something huge was going on inside.

"Why the _hell_ did you tell them all to come partying here?" their class president demanded.

Not for the first time, Ryoma smirked with deliberate evilness.

"I thought you need some cheering, pervert-kun." he told earnestly.

"I'm not counting about you beating me yet, Echizen." Kobayashi muttered.

"Hn, let's continue today." Ryoma stepped inside, and Sakuno skittered following him, bowing profusely.

.

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	9. Chapter 9

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Nine

"Comeback"

* * *

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Standing at the sidelines with Tomoka, Kotoko and Minami as well as many other anticipating students, Sakuno's heart thumped in her throat. In a good way.

The tennis court was crowded with spectators from as far as those who weren't even interested in the sport, simply because news had traveled that the first performance by the school's "Prince of Tennis" would be taking place that day, after three months of "lurking in the shadows for some reason" as Momoshiro had put it, Echizen Ryoma was finally making his comeback to the team.

"Oh, Kobayashi-kun's here, too." Sakuno noted with a beaming smile.

"I thought his suspension still has a few days more to go?" Tomoka asked.

"I don't think a little rule-breaking matters to him." Kotoko reasoned dryly.

Sure enough, instead of the school uniform, their class president was clothed in black track-suits and a green t-shirt, completed casually with a pair of sneakers. He made way toward them as Sakuno waved at him.

"I still can't believe President actually owns that big of a mansion." Minami breezed dreamily, and she was the most enthusiastic of them all to bow a greeting at the boy.

The "party" which had been initiated by Horio last week—though it had really been instructed by Ryoma—had seen Kobayashi's house—manor—more or less invaded by them; their classmates, schoolmates and even faces they'd failed to recognize had come crashing in through the door every now and then. Kobayashi hadn't seemed happy about it, but he hadn't exactly complained either, as he'd taken the role of the host grudgingly, making sure the servants provide the uninvited guests with food and drinks and whatever-else-they'd-wanted.

In short, Ryoma had received a continuing, intense glare from the class president that day, but the tennis prince hadn't seemed bothered, even taking the microphone and singing into a chorus of a hit English song that had all the girls swooning. He had seemed to enjoy himself, but some boys from their class had pointed out that somehow it seemed to be just a devilish attempt to annoy their class president.

"You're here, Kobayashi-kun." Sakuno said as Kobayashi stopped beside her.

"Might as well come and see how good Echizen is." he muttered, and he was greeted immediately by three pairs of eyes, throwing him three full-blown, disbelieving stares. "What?"

"President, you've never seen Ryoma-sama play tennis before?" Tomoka asked, greatly shocked. "_Ever_?"

Kobayashi shoved his hands into his pockets.

"No." he mouthed, his eyes sweeping across the tennis court where Eiji could be seen rotating exuberantly in free gymnastic styles.

"_No_?" Tomoka repeated breezily. She turned to Sakuno wide-eyed. "Ne! He said "No" as if it doesn't matter!"

"Aww, that's because President's not into tennis, Tomoka." Minami amended.

"He's not one of us." Kotoko added, although she hardly sounded in Kobayashi's defense.

"And I just thought he was really cute." Tomoka said, squinting her eyes in a fresh wave of discrimination at the class president, who didn't seem to be listening.

Sakuno smiled, and everybody's attention was soon diverted by the arrival of Tezuka and Inui into the court, walking side by side, followed a few steps behind by a careless-looking Ryoma. Sakuno's feet could barely feel the ground at the sight of his racket, its head resting on Ryoma's shoulder, his free hand buried habitually in his shorts' pocket.

"Look, ne! That cap! Aahh I've missed that cap!" Minami gushed.

As all the regulars gathered around Tezuka, surrounded by the rest of the tennis club members, Sakuno released the breath she'd been holding.

This was it.

Ryoma was returning to tennis, the one thing that wasn't only a part of him, but perhaps even the very aspect that defined who he was in the first place.

Okumura Eri might have been right in saying that—_without tennis, Ryoma had been paying attention to Sakuno; tennis was the only thing more important than her._ Okumura Eri might have been right in saying that Sakuno "had done nothing" to help Ryoma play tennis again.

But Okumura Eri had definitely been wrong to say Sakuno was selfish. She didn't mind being second to tennis in Ryoma's eyes. She didn't mind being the less important thing compared to tennis in Ryoma's eyes.

She was far too proud of him to feel otherwise.

**xXxOxOxXx**

"Interesting." Azusa remarked, smilingly observing the enthusiastic uproar that swept across the tennis court by fanatics all around; girls were gushing and cheering, boys loudly chanting.

Eri didn't bother with a reply. Her eyes found Ryoma and were fixed merely on that direction. One hand holding the racket, another pushed deep in his pocket, he scraped the sole of his trainers idly against the ground, the brim of his cap pulled low over his eyes, only occasionally glancing up to listen to what the team's captain was instructing about.

The mix of anger, jealousy, irritation was back again, chaffing relentlessly at Eri's insides. She threw a glance to where Ryuzaki Sakuno could be seen standing at the sideline, her smile beaming and filled with excitement just like the rest of the other females around the court.

Eri hated that girl. She had no idea. Ryuzaki Sakuno had no idea, hadn't she?

As soon as Ryoma told her that he would be returning to tennis, Ryuzaki Sakuno hadn't spent a second to stop and think about _why_ he had made the decision. She'd been too absorbed in her own feelings of selfish joy and so-called gratitude.

"Fool." Eri mouthed in spite.

"Eh?" Azusa asked.

"I'm not talking you, shut up." Eri frowned as she glanced at him. "I thought I told you I don't want to see you anymore?"

"Really now, Eri." Azusa chuckled, unaffected by her icy-cold words. "I thought you'd be delighted that your tennis guy's coming back to training. You sound like you're thinking of murder instead."

"_Shut up_."

With an amused smile, Azusa shrugged and kept quiet, but it was more to the fact that the tennis club members had dispersed around the court as the day's mock-game was about to begin.

**xXxOxOxXx**

"Nya…! It's amazing, ne?" Eiji asked high-spiritedly. "I think today we have the highest number of people ever stopping by to watch our game, and it's all attributed to Ochibi…!"

"The dumbasses are here to watch Echizen, not you." Kaidoh responded.

"That's so mean! Nya…!"

While the two almost-grown-men began to bicker and Kaidoh was mercilessly attacked by Eiji, the cheerful senpai throwing his arms around the viper and trying to ruffle his bandana, Ryoma decided it was best if he added more space between the two. He walked further away leaving the crime scene to warm up, only to be interrupted by Momoshiro.

"Hey, brat." his senpai greeted with a grin. "You sure you're alright?" he asked. Ryoma put down his racket on the bench and began to stretch. "Tsk, not even a glance huh? And look at that smug face… So you've fixed things up with sweet Ryuzaki?" Momoshiro edged.

"Don't speak her name with your dirty tongue, and don't call her sweet."

Momoshiro's grin stretched wider.

"I take that as a yes." he chuckled. Then he sobered and watched Ryoma more intently. "But, really, you _are_ alright, right?" he asked, only faintly doubtful. "I mean, we really haven't seen you swing a racket since the day you got into that accident."

A tiny vein of irritation nagged at him. Ryoma did his best to remain composed.

"I'm fine." he responded, point-blank.

"That's right." Momoshiro agreed, and he slapped Ryoma hard on the back, laughing loudly in that creepy way his oyaji always laughed. "You're physically completely healed." he nodded once or twice as if satisfied, then finally went about his own business of stretching and yawning.

Ryoma straightened as he watched Momoshiro leave.

_Physically completely healed._

Those words rang in his mind along with several flickers of images, but he quickly dismissed them, refusing to look back.

He cast a glance around the court and found Sakuno by the sideline, staring at him with the biggest, shiniest smile on her face. He snorted and raised his hand and waved, and just like that, the girls all around the court "_oooh_!" and "_aaah_!" girlishly in a burst of collective giggles and wistful sighs.

Mouth slightly opened, Sakuno's eyes turned wide with surprise and her face flushed bright red, which were exactly the results Ryoma was aiming for.

Casually he turned and picked up his racket from the bench, pulling the brim of his cap comfortably lower as he made way to his assigned post, smirking.

.

.

.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note**

Hi. Some of you already knew that I received the return P.M. from Nakano Aika a few days back. She said it was by chance that she opened the email account which I sent my P.M. to, and she decided to reply me after reading the "Chapter Nine" I posted. She gave me permission to continue with the story, and she mentioned about apologizing to us (the readers) and to those who had also P.M. her. Because something happened, she didn't plan on coming back, she didn't think she could write again in the near future. She said if anyone was interested in continuing her other story "Dirty Little Secret" then they can do so. That was pretty much everything she wrote. Hopefully I'm correctly getting the message across to you.

I'm putting the whole existing chapters of "Bad Boy" under my account so that any new readers won't find it confusing or troublesome.

That's it, thank you.

* * *

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Ten

"Lock-Pick"

* * *

.

.

"Dream guy?" Eri scoffed.

These girls had nothing better to do with their time, obviously. Ever since she moved to the school, the topics they indulged themselves with during lunch break and every other break at all, boringly revolved around the sizzling gossips on this-person-or-another, celebrities, make-ups, sleepover, and all the other way around again. Typical of teenage girls, Eri presumed, but not _her_ typical. She grew up following a father who owned a tennis club; she grew up with the sport and the practical aspects of it. Okumura Eri was therefore, to sum it up, practical.

"Yeah, dream guy." Chitose gushed. "How's yours?"

"Let's give the descriptions and we'll try to match it up for you." Rie suggested.

"And the point is?"

"There's no point." Mizuki muttered. "They can be brainless sometimes." she said dryly.

Chitose and Rie giggled, not exactly discouraged.

Putting her chopsticks to her mouth, chewing thoughtfully at her meal, Eri's eyes went upward and she began to randomly list on.

"Taller than I am; Good-looking; Strong; Rich; Smart; Caring; Boyish; Romantic; Well-built." she snorted. The "descriptions" sounded like they'd been borrowed from a ridiculously cheesy romance novel. "Name him."

Chitose and Rie "hmmm" long and hard, ponderously searching for a fit.

"Hoshizaki Kyohara?" Chitose tried. "I don't know if he's rich or romantic or caring, but he does look like the other things you mentioned."

"He's quiet." Eri dismissed the guy who'd been selected to be "The Fairy Godmother" in their class' upcoming _Cinderella _play for the school's tournament. "He seems so passive, I can't imagine a girl ever making a lively conversation with him."

"Strange." Mizuki remarked. "Echizen Ryoma's quiet, but you like him. Or maybe it has something to do with the thrill of snatching away someone else's boyfriend?"

Knowing full well by now that Aoi Mizuki wasn't someone to be tempered with unless you were looking for a war, Eri ignored her sarcasm.

"Then…" Rie's eyes lit up. "Kobayashi Shouta." she named. Eri nearly choked on her sushi. For some reason, so did Mizuki; she coughed and immediately reached for her drink, swallowing down almost furiously. Rie covered her mouth with her hand and leaned over to Eri with a hushed voice. "Shouta-kun and Mizuki had been dating in middle school." she reported. "Not many people know about it, and we don't _really_ know the full story of why they broke up. But ever since then, Mizuki acts like she doesn't know Shouta-kun, and they talk only when they really have to. You would notice."

"Oh?" Eri smiled, throwing a condescending look in the class vice president's direction. "I won't be surprised if Kobayashi dumped you because of your attitude problem." she relished.

Mizuki glared.

"It was me who dumped him, not the other way around." she informed heatedly, gathering her lunchbox and raising from her seat. She threw a look at Rie that spoke of warning. "You talk too much." she said in a clipped tone.

As the class vice president headed to the door and walked out of the unused classroom in which the four of them had their lunch, Chitose pursed her lips contemplatively.

"Part of the reason Mizuki broke up with Shouta-kun had something to do with Ryuzaki Sakuno." she said. "It should've been a misunderstanding though, because Ryuzaki Sakuno obviously doesn't like Shouta-kun that way, and he doesn't seem to like her that way either."

Eri listened carefully, finding the topic a bit more interesting compared to those they usually discussed about.

"Ano, Shouta-kun might still like Mizuki." Rie surmised, nodding convincingly at Eri when she raised an eyebrow. "Because since they broke up, Shouta-kun never had another girlfriend, and he's rejected tons of girls who confessed to him. Some people begin to say he's a gay."

"Which isn't true." Chitose exclaimed loyally.

"And I think, Mizuki might still like Shouta-kun as well." Rie continued.

"But you said she acts like she doesn't know him since they broke up." Eri pointed out.

"Huh. Haven't you noticed how Mizuki is already? She's too arrogant to admit that she was wrong in accusing Shouta-kun for having something with Ryuzaki Sakuno back then. I'd bet she never apologized to him even as she gradually realized that she was wrong, she just keeps it that way."

Eri snorted.

"Then if Kobayashi really still likes Mizuki and yet he does nothing to get her back, he's a worthless coward." she concluded.

"Ne, Eri-chan, he must've been hurt, after all. Back then Mizuki had spoken horrible words to Shouta-kun when she told him she was "dumping" him." Rie said.

"Besides," Chitose murmured, glancing sideways at Eri. "Not everyone is like you, who jumps head first and fights to the death to get what you want, ignoring the consequences. For all we know, Shouta-kun doesn't want to hurt what's important to Mizuki, that's why he stays away because that's obviously what Mizuki wants by pretending not knowing him."

Rie stuck up her index finger.

"What's important to Mizuki is her pride." she said knowingly.

Eri clenched her jaw, her appetite entirely gone.

So they were saying that she was neglecting how Ryoma felt by relentlessly giving him trouble?

**xXxOxOxXx**

The costumes for the _Cinderella _play that would be performed by their class in the upcoming school's tournament had been exclusively made. The girls and the boys were very much anticipating the "try-out" session, particularly to see the boys who would have to, inevitably, put on the complexly decorated, heavy gowns in order to each transform into Cinderella, the Step-Sisters, the Step-Mother and the Fairy Godmother.

Despite the fact that he'd been practically brutally kicked by Ryoma last time, Horio could barely keep a straight face when one of the girls from the Theater Club excitedly pulled out the dress which "Cinderella" was supposed to wear at her grand ball later.

While the students buzzed noisily around, clamoring over the scripts and the costumes, pranking about and laughing at each other, Aoi Mizuki went up to the blackboard at the front of the class and picked up a yellow chalk, writing down;

_Cinderella: Echizen Ryoma_

_Prince: Ryuzaki Sakuno_

_Duke: Okumura Eri_

_Father: Ayuzawa Hinako_

_Step Sister 1: Takenouchi Azusa_

_Step Sister 2: Kobayashi Shouta_

_Step Mother: Takamiya Hikari_

_Fairy Godmother: Hoshizaki Kyohara_

"Can't we re-do the storyline to make it more interesting?" Azusa asked loudly from his desk, hands clasped behind his head, a lazy smile on his face. "Like, at last Duke Eri marries Step Sister Azusa and they live passionately ever after, or something?"

Giggles and laughter filled the classroom. Eri threw him an irritated glance.

"Don't you change girls like people change clothes, Azusa?" one of the boys asked. "You've been following Okumura around for about two weeks already, that's a record."

Azusa shrugged, chuckling as Eri glared at him from across the room.

The merriment went on. Hoshizaki Kyohara was half-strangled in the flurry of enthusiastic girls as they insisted on helping him to wear his Fairy Godmother dress. Kobayashi Shouta refused to be touched, the class president fiercely threatening to hang anybody who dared to bring "that funny dress" of the Step Sister 2 anywhere near him. Takamiya Hikari relented to his fate and allowed Tomoka and Minami to giggle all over him as they lifted the Step Mother dress over his head. Takenouchi Azusa didn't seem that much bothered, quite happily bringing his Step Sister 1 dress to Eri's desk, asking her to help him wear it—which Eri declined by tossing the dress away.

Sakuno plopped down Cinderella's blond wigs over Ryoma's head, giggling as he stared blankly back at her from beneath them. She held the ends of the wigs, leaning over to peer closely at him.

"Waah, Ryoma-kun is very pretty." she claimed.

That had him faintly smirking.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yes."

Ryoma leaned forward, their foreheads almost touching.

"Since the mock-game yesterday, you haven't stopped smiling." he remarked. Sakuno's smile only brightened as she nodded in agreement. He snorted, his own smirk stretching. "You're that happy?"

"You played great yesterday, Ryoma-kun." she said, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply in earnest, then opening them again to beam at him. "I heard some students say, after months of not seeing you at the tennis court, you _dazzled_ them." her brown eyes shimmered. "You dazzled _me_." she whispered shyly.

"That can't have been more wrong." Ryoma murmured. Before Sakuno could ask what he meant by it, he closed the gap between them and kissed her. It was brief and intimate, and when he pulled back, they both glanced around to see whether they had been caught. Nobody seemed to notice, everyone fussing over everything. "_Clear_." Ryoma whispered like a secret agent, and Sakuno smiled, her face flaming comfortably, butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

After the mock-game ended yesterday, Momoshiro declared that everybody was allowed to have—as he put it—a once-in-a-lifetime "photography session" with the tennis club members. Those around the court accepted the offer clamorously, even more so the girls, all eager to grab their share of taking pictures with the regulars (minus Tezuka, who had mysteriously and skillfully disappeared right after Momoshiro's announcement).

On Ryoma's winning, Tomoka (although Ryoma couldn't remember her name) had gaily claimed that he must have been practicing at home after all during his leave from tennis. The fact was, he really hadn't touched his tennis racket from three months ago up until the very morning of the mock-game, and Ryoma didn't think it was surprising that he still remembered all his moves; they were far too entrenched in him to be shaken off that easily. He'd practically been breathing tennis since he knew how to gurgle as a baby, so his ways with the sport would take more than three months of idle sitting to be forgotten. But Ryoma hadn't felt the need to explain that much to anybody, so he'd merely "Hn." the girl and she'd been blissfully amazed.

"Will you guys quit it?" Aoi Mizuki's voice rang loud from the other end of the classroom. Ryoma and Sakuno turned to see her standing in front of one of the girls' desk, staring at the boys who were gathering in front of Kobayashi, where they seemed to be having a tug-of-war over the Step Sister 2 dress. She frowned at their class president. "Don't be a two-years-old, just wear the dress already." she ordered, looking irritated.

For a moment, the entire class seemed to stop breathing, somehow noticing that the vice class president seemed to be venting out her frustration to the class president. They all stared as silence followed, until finally Kobayashi moved again. He tugged the dress away from one of the boys' hands, clearing his throat.

"Sure." he muttered, all complaints gone.

Mizuki turned away and went back to her work, and voices erupted again, all activities continuing in a flurry of excitement and confusion.

"I think compared to me, you would look better in this." Ryoma pondered, sounding remorseful. Sakuno stood in front of his chair, where he sat watching as she held out his Cinderella dress to be examined. It was a mixture of cream and pastel pink, its pleated, overflowing gown adorned with pretty laces and bows. Sakuno touched her fingers to its sash, smiling. Ryoma's hands moved around her waist, pulling her toward him until her knees were touching his chair. "I'll look ridiculous." he said, and Sakuno looked down at him delightedly.

"Ryoma-kun, you sound like you're trying to persuade me into asking the girls whether the roles could be switched back to the right genders." she taunted.

"Would you do it?" he asked almost hopefully. She laughed and shook her head. He cupped her cheek and pulled her face down to him. "If you tell them to switch the roles back, I will let you do anything you want to me." he bargained in a teasing whisper. "You can do…" their eyes locked, he brought her hand to his face, touching her fingers to his chiseled nose, his cheek, his lips, down to his bare neck. "Anything… You want to me."

Sakuno blinked, her face reddening. Overwhelmed with embarrassment, immediately she regretted taunting him.

"T-that's not it." she mumbled. "I—I don't think… They would allow it."

Ryoma actually sighed.

"That old man insists on coming." he grounded in a low voice. "I don't want _anybody_ uninvolved come to school that day." he said, looking up again when Sakuno sniffled almost guiltily. He narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"A-ano… Ryoma-kun… I—I've invited Mr. and Mrs Yoshikawa and Kei…" Sakuno squealed when Ryoma's other hand pressed up against her other cheek, and he squished her face like molding the plasticine.

"You _did_?" he asked dangerously.

"I didn't—I didn't know." Sakuno whimpered, eyes shut firm, her expression helpless. "I—I thought you would want them to come see us perform…"

"Why would I want anybody to come see me scrub the floor in a dress?"

"I—I'm sorry…" Sakuno sniffled, opening her eyes to gaze down pitifully at him, begging for forgiveness.

With a resigned look and almost a defeated sigh, Ryoma stood up from his chair and leaned over to firmly kiss the top of her head. Then he poked at the dress pointedly.

"Help me with it." he ordered.

"Y-you're wearing it?"

"Can I not?"

Sakuno glanced around the classroom to see that Hoshizaki Kyohara was already clothed in the white, pale blue gown of his Fairy Godmother dress, his head draped with a fashionable cover of a snow-colored hood. Takamiya Hikari was standing agitatedly as both Tomoka and Minami brushed his Step Mother crimson-colored dress. It shouldn't be hard, Sakuno supposed. They didn't even have to take their clothes off because what the Theater Club girls wanted was just the first glimpse of everyone in their respective role's clothing. But of course, it didn't stop Takenouchi Azusa from making a scene; he deftly unbuttoned his white school shirt and discarded it on Eri's desk, standing just in his dark trousers. Eri ignored him and he was left to be helped with his Step Sister 1 dress by two blushing, giggling girls.

Sakuno bit her lip and began to reach between the folds of Cinderella dress.

"Should I take my shirt off too?" Ryoma stoically asked.

Sakuno's fingers fumbled with the zip.

"I—I don't think you have to." she murmured.

"Haaa…! Ryoma's _magical_ transformation…!" Horio loudly exclaimed, rushing to them once he saw that Ryoma was "ready" to be dressed.

Katsuo and Kachiro followed, but wisely kept their mouth shut and their expression guarded.

"It shouldn't be too bad." Kachiro chirped nervously.

"Uh, yeah. We'll have to wear a dress too." Katsuo meekly agreed.

"I can't wait till you're being coated with make-ups, Ryoma." Horio snickered, oblivious to the murderous sign sent to him by Ryoma's steely glance. "You should be the prettiest, _most-breathtaking_ girl at the ball, after all." he anticipated, cracking up boisterously.

Ryoma kept a straight face. When Sakuno held the dress for him, he stepped into it obediently, easing into the soft, padded, flurry fabric with a completely unreadable expression on his face. Outwardly he seemed calm, composed, and unperturbed.

Only God knew what he planned to do with the dress once the school's tournament ended.

At the opposite end of the classroom, the other boys loitered standing and sitting in their chair, snickering as they watched Kobayashi's struggle with his Step Sister 2 dress, almost ripping it in his frustration. Although he was—grudgingly—showing the willingness to wear it after being scolded by Mizuki, the dress didn't seem to agree with him.

"What's the point in this thing being so complicated?" Kobayashi tugged, twisted, and yanked up the dress once he stepped into it. But it was easing up with reluctance and stubbornness. "I swear…" he cursed under his breath.

"Are you sure you haven't gained weight and gotten fat?" one of the boys prompted with a sly grin.

"No, moron. It's this thing here—" he was cut short when a girl's hand pushed his ungraceful fingers away. He looked up to see Eri standing in front of him. "Okumura?" he called, his voice tinged with confusion and, inevitably, suspicion.

The other boys raised their eyebrows and whistled, but Eri casually began to loosen the tight sash around the dress, pushing Kobayashi's arm.

"Get out." she said, and he stepped out of the dress without complaint.

"Ne, you'd have to help me with mine too, Eri-chan." one of the boys demanded, followed by a set of other same requests by the rest of them.

Straightening, Eri aired the dress, brushing it and fixing its folds and decorations that had gotten themselves in quite a mess under Kobayashi's torment.

"Your jumper's too big to fit, how can you be so stupid not to notice?" she asked bluntly.

With a silent grudging look, Kobayashi unzipped his dark-blue sweater and pushed it off of his shoulders. He rolled it into a crumpled ball and threw it over, aiming for one of the boys' head, who laughingly caught the sweater and deposited it on his desk.

"You seem fine around this guy even though he harassed you, Eri-chan." the boy playfully remarked.

Eri froze. Instantly it occurred to her that perhaps most—if not all—of the students in the class didn't really believe Kobayashi Shouta had done any "harassing" on her. From what she had heard, she could even safely assume the class president was harmless; nothing more than an unruly, undisciplined ex-delinquent who one time ago might've had mixed with the wrong crowd. For one thing, even though Eri had gotten him suspended for something he hadn't done, he didn't show any signs that he craved for revenge. Instead it was her who still harbored ill-feelings at him for what he had said back then.

She turned to the boy with a smile.

"After some thought, I decided Shouta-kun isn't really scary, after all." she explained in a sweet voice that only certain people knew to be fake. "He comes to school even though he's still being suspended, coming to class wearing casual clothes without listening to the teachers' complaints." she turned to Kobayashi, her green eyes sparkling with malicious humor. "I think Shouta-kun's funny."

The class president stared back, his face blank.

"Shouta-kun?" the boys simultaneously whined. "Since when did you start calling this guy _Shouta-kun_?"

"Why don't you call me by my given name, too?" they complained.

Knowing well by now that Okumura could be more than a little difficult, Kobayashi decided if she wanted to have some fun tempering him, then it wasn't worth the fight to argue with her. While the other boys began to press her to call them by their given name, he averted his eyes from the loud disturbance, only to catch both Azusa and Mizuki staring their way.

Mizuki turned away almost immediately after their eyes met, but Azusa kept the eye-contact and smiled, slightly sarcastic.

Kobayashi wondered whether the famous player had really actually fallen in love with Okumura Eri. From Okumura's fierce insistence on getting Echizen to her side, Kobayashi wouldn't say things were over yet. Azusa might just get his feelings scratched—something he probably had never experienced before, considering it was him who'd usually left girls brokenhearted. Either way, Kobayashi knew it was best not to have anything to do with the conflicts that might later ensue.

He removed Okumura's fingers from his dress.

"I'll do it myself." he said, well-aware that Azusa was still watching.

Okumura pursed her lips, seemingly dissatisfied at being told off.

"Fine. I thought of lending a hand because you seemed so pathetic at it anyway." she quipped, and then she moved on to one of the other boys, smilingly offering her help which they eagerly accepted.

**xXxOxOxXx**

"Nya, Ochibi, let us see it already."

"We'll eventually see it anyway, Ryoma."

"Disappear." Ryoma commanded, but Eiji and Momoshiro remained flanking him on his right and left as he stood in front of his locker in the Tennis Club room.

"Is it green? Or blue?" Momoshiro edged.

"Nya, what about the wigs?" Eiji touched his head with his hands, tussling messily at his hair in excitement. "Nya! It has to be blond, it _must_ be blond, ne?"

The door squeaked opened. Fuji and Kaidoh entered the room, the viper immediately throwing himself onto the brown bench at the corner of the room, taking his water bottle.

"What are we doing?" Fuji asked with a smile, joining Momoshiro and Eiji at Ryoma's locker.

"Ryoma's class will be doing a play at the tournament, and he'll be Cinderella." Momoshiro filled in. "So we want to see his Cinderella dress."

Fuji nodded.

"We want to see your Cinderella dress." he chimed in.

Frowning faintly in growing annoyance, Ryoma shut his locker with a sharp clang, locked it protectively and went to sit on the brown bench next to Kaidoh.

"Nya! Let us see it, Ochibi!" Eiji sang. "I wanna, I wanna, I wanna _see_ it…!"

"You're so loud." Ryoma droned, bending to tie his shoelaces. Inui walked up to him from where he'd been sitting facing his laptop, and Ryoma was suddenly confronted by a pair of shining glasses as the data-guy crouched down in front of him. "What?"

Notebook and pen in hands, Inui fixed his glasses with practiced ease.

"How do you feel about cross-dressing?" he asked.

"… _What_?"

A scribbling sound filled the air as Inui jotted down something in his notebook.

"Vocabulary is rather limited." he murmured, before looking up again. "Do you feel nervous as you'd be wearing a dress in front of so many people?" he asked.

"Why would I be nervous?" Ryoma retorted. "This kind of thing—" he was cut short by another scribbling sound.

"Not nervous to wear a dress in public." Inui murmured. "Probably has an experience already, so not nervous at all."

Fuji, Eiji and Momoshiro could visibly see their Ochibi taking a deep, calming breath.

"I don't feel nervous…" he slowly said, his voice eerily quiet. "I feel _disgusted_."

The door squeaked opened, this time Takashi, Oishi and Tezuka stepping into the room.

"Oh, Ryoma." Takashi grinned sheepishly. "I'm sorry to hear that you'd be Cinderella in the play your class will be doing. I played Sleeping Beauty once when I was in elementary school. The dress felt really itchy." he confessed with a slight grimace.

For at least ten seconds, silence dawned on around the room, all eyes staring fixedly at Takashi.

"Sleeping Beauty." Inui turned the pages of his notebook backward, until finally he seemed to have found the specific page filled with Takashi's data. Turning his attention to the boy, he asked, "So how was the kissing scene done?"

"Nya! Do you have the pictures? You _must_ have the pictures!"

"What was the color of your wigs?"

Curious inquiries bombarded from every direction.

"Uh…"

While Takashi was being assaulted with questions from every which way, Tezuka turned his gaze on Ryoma.

"I want to talk to you." he said, lightly indicating with his head to the door. "Outside."

Ryoma watched the captain leave, before his eyes went to stare down at his hands. For a moment he gazed at the crimson hairband he'd taken from Sakuno, worn around his right wrist, and then he moved again, tying his shoelaces neatly before he stood up from the bench.

"Can't be sure, but I think most people didn't notice 'cause it wasn't that obvious." Kaidoh murmured from next to him. Ryoma glanced sideways and down, meeting eye to eye with the viper. Kaidoh leaned back against the wall, his water bottle tilted to his mouth as he stared up at Ryoma. "Yesterday before your match at the mock-game, your hands… They were shaking… Weren't they?" he asked.

Ryoma turned from him and walked to the door.

**xXxOxOxXx**

The atmosphere was noticeably awkward. It was almost palpable that the combination present in the old storeroom wouldn't be harmonious even after a thousand years and were currently not agreeing with each other.

Kobayashi had tagged along when Azusa decided to come with Eri as for some reason, she offered herself to go with Sakuno, Tomoka, Kotoko and Minami to the school's old storeroom. Because Mizuki had been the one who'd initially ordered Sakuno to go with her to pick up things they could use for the _Cinderella _play, all of them ended up going together like a ring of human chains. Aoi Mizuki, Kobayashi Shouta, Takenouchi Azusa and Okumura Eri didn't exude a peaceful ambience at all when they stood under one roof in the same small room.

Tomoka and Minami exchanged uncertain glances. Kotoko and Sakuno on the other hand, hardly seemed to notice. Both of them officiously stooped over one of the boxes littered on the gritty floor of the musty storeroom, rummaging through its content.

"But why must we find the old things, why don't we just buy new accessories?" Minami finally broke the silence. She cringed when Mizuki sent a sharp look at her. "I mean, it's really suffocating in here…" she trailed.

"The class' budget's already been stretched for those costumes." Mizuki said in a no-nonsense tone. "I still can't believe they insisted on them." she frowned.

"President!" Tomoka exclaimed.

"Yeah?" Kobayashi lifted up a heavy box for Sakuno, setting it on the floor so she could bury her head in it, searching out valuable items that might be useful.

"Why won't you sponsor our play? You have lots of money, don't you?"

"No, I don't."

"You're rich!"

"My parents are rich, I'm as broke as every one of you."

They all coughed when dusts flew everywhere around them after Kotoko vigorously dusted off one of the boxes she'd just found.

"Silly! Don't do that." Eri complained between fits of coughing.

The storeroom was exceptionally dim with no windows except for two small, bare openings at the high end of the wall that only allowed slits of sunlight to filter in. Said openings hardly had any use, so when the rickety door slammed loudly to close behind them, they jumped and screamed in surprise by the ringing echo and the sudden darkness that blanketed them.

"It was just the wind." Azusa's voice said, sounding amused.

"Isn't there a switch somewhere?" Kobayashi asked. "Behind you, Azusa."

"Yeah." a few clicks, followed by nothing. "Nope." Azusa muttered.

"Open the door." Mizuki said.

A figure felt its way to the door, pulling at the doorknob that refused to completely turn.

"It—it won't open." Sakuno's nervous voice claimed.

"President! Something's scurrying on the floor!" Minami yelled.

"They're just rats." Kobayashi explained, unconcerned.

Immediately the girls squirmed and flittered around, squealing quietly as they tried to stifle their dismay over the creatures. Azusa's laughter filled the room.

"It's not funny." Eri snapped.

"Do you want me to lift you up in my arms? I won't let the vermin touch you." Azusa offered.

"I would rather not let you touch me." she retorted.

"But haven't I touched a lot already?"

"Shut up."

"That's enough." Mizuki interfered irritably, followed by Azusa's chuckle. Their shadowy figures stood uselessly in the middle of the almost-packed storeroom, occasionally accompanied by the scurrying sounds of little feet as the rats-and-God-knows-what hurried across the room, passing and brushing against their legs. Mizuki let out a frustrated sigh. "Kobayashi, kick the door open."

"I don't think that's necessary." he responded.

"Good! So we'll just wait here until the door corrodes and crumbles, except that we would've been dead and rotting by then." Mizuki shot back in sharp sarcasm. "If you're afraid I would report you for breaking that door, don't be, because I won't. Obviously it's the only way out, unless you want to completely humiliate yourself by shouting for anyone out there to hear and have him call the cleaning lady just to bring us the store's key to open that door."

There was a long, cold silence.

Finally someone shifted.

"Hanama-san, can I borrow your hair-clip?" Kobayashi's voice asked.

"Eh? Uhm, sure." Minami reached up to her hair, squinting to find the class president's outstretched hand. "Here."

"I'll buy a new one for you later." he said, walking to door and crouching down in front of it.

For a few seconds, they heard the telltale sounds of the doorknob being turned experimentally several times, and after a few seconds more, Kobayashi stood up and reeled it fully around.

The door creaked opened, the lights from outside quickly stole into the storeroom, and they heaved out a sigh of relief as fresh wave of winds blew inside toward them.

"Good one! President!" Tomoka and Minami jubilantly cheered.

Sakuno, Eri and Kotoko glanced silently at Mizuki, who seemed shocked as she watched Kobayashi return to uncovering the boxes littering the floor.

"He could easily lock-pick into any female's bedroom." Azusa pondered. "I must learn it."

Unthinkingly, Eri jabbed his ribs with her elbow.

.

.

.

* * *

**Author's 2nd Note**

I do notice the previous chapter I posted was shorter than this one. Hopefully my writing works just fine for you, :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Eleven

"Wrong Guy"

* * *

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Earlier that morning, after the announcement made by their Educational Guidance teacher had rung in the hallways informing that classes for the first-years had been canceled that day, Ryoma had told Sakuno he would be stopping by the Tennis Club room, and together with Tomoka, Kotoko, Minami, Kobayashi, Okumura Eri, Aoi Mizuki and Takenouchi Azusa, Sakuno spent almost an hour at the school's old storeroom run-down building, rummaging through dusty boxes—and stumbling across scurrying, screeching mice—as they looked for any related materials which might be used for their class' _Cinderella _play.

Once, Azusa had kicked shut the rickety door of the storeroom wearing an indescribably ugly mask of a folklore monster, and he'd shone the flashlight under his chin as he'd spoken in such a convincingly spooky voice that all of them (except Kobayashi and Kotoko, who hadn't even seemed surprised) had been scared out of their wits. Sakuno had jumped, and Tomoka, Minami, Eri and Mizuki had screamed when the second time, the brown-haired player had suddenly thrown a large, thick, white blanket over them as he'd climbed onto a desk, before one of the desk legs rattled and broke, collapsing to the floor with him.

Azusa sprained an ankle because of it, but he was still laughing as Kotoko (who always seemed to know how to deal with such kind of thing) crouched in front of him to examine the injury.

"Owh. Tsk… _Owhhh_!"

"I haven't even touched you." Kotoko said in a blank voice.

"Really?" he chuckled. "Tell me when you did."

"You were looking for it." Eri pointed out in irritation, but Azusa cut her short when he caught her wrist and pulled her over to him. She stumbled forward and fell into his lap, and he immediately wounded his arms around her waist as she tried to break free. "What are you doing?" she half-yelled.

"Kotoko-san's going to twist my ankle and it's gonna make a horrible crack sound," he explained with an entirely carefree smile. "I need you to ease my pain."

"Don't be stupid, let go!"

While they (basically Eri alone) argued as they sat together on the lush, green grasses outside the storeroom, Sakuno watched Azusa's injured foot with a worried frown as she stood hovering behind Kotoko. Around them, Tomoka and Minami were happily helping Kobayashi with a number of boxes as he selected those containing possible items to be used and carried them out to be placed on the ground. Mizuki lagged behind, looking both agitated and awkward.

"It's not too bad, is it?" Sakuno asked.

"It's really just trifle." Kotoko confirmed.

She wrapped her fingers firmly around Azusa's sprained ankle before moving it in an abrupt, hard, _slightly _frightening motion. There came an audible _crack! _sound, and in quick relfex, Azusa's right hand shot forward, grasping at Kotoko's left wrist as he flinched.

"That hurt." he said, laughing with a frown.

"It's done." Kotoko informed.

"Let's see…" he moved his foot in a round slow motion, then smiled at her. "That was quite hard. You don't look all that strong." he remarked.

Eri stared sideways and up at Azusa, rolling her eyes.

"Let me go first, so you can ask for her phone number." she said sarcastically.

"She's jealous." Azusa grinned. Kotoko didn't give a response, standing up and walking over to where Tomoka and Minami were. "Thank you!" he yelled over, but although it was clear that she could hear him, she didn't react.

Sakuno blinked when Azusa turned his brown eyes on her.

"Y-yes?"

"Can you give me Kotoko-san's phone number?" he prompted.

Eri lifted up her hand and swung her elbow back; it connected hard with Azusa's ribs, and he moaned before being pushed away by her as she climbed out of his lap.

"Stupid." she mumbled. Sakuno bit her lower lip as she held in amused giggles, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hands when Eri shot her a glare, her green eyes narrowed. "Tell Ryoma that he played great yesterday, and that he definitely looked good wearing those shorts and that cap." the brown-haired girl said with a clearly-fake, intentional smile. Sakuno's eyes widened and she fumbled for a response, but Eri scoffed and stalked away before Sakuno could find any. "_Stupid_." she repeated.

Sakuno stood staring after her with a mild dissatisfied feeling, but she was distracted by Minami, the short-haired girl tugging insistently at Sakuno's arm.

"Ne, ne, I think I'm really doing it." she whispered.

"W-what?"

"Confess my feelings!" Minami said, frowning as if she couldn't believe Sakuno had no idea about what she was about to do.

Sakuno frowned hesitantly back.

"T-to who?"

"Who else," Minami reproached. "President, of course!"

"Y-you're going to confess your feelings…" Sakuno's eyes widened. "M-Minami-chan likes _Kobayashi-kun_?" she half-whispered in surprise. Minami nodded vigorously, her cheeks pinkening, although she seemed confident and proud in her to-be action. Sakuno glanced over at Kobayashi, who was blinking blankly back after Eri snatched away the bubblegum Tomoka had just given him from his hand. Tomoka yelled for the bubblegum to be returned, but Eri put it in her mouth and leaned forward to Kobayashi, closing her eyes with a daring smile, clearly challenging him to take it from her mouth. The class president raised his hand and lightly pushed her forehead away, before turning to continue his work, leaving Tomoka and Eri glaring daggers and smiling in satisfaction at each other. Mizuki watched the whole event silently from a few meters away, her expression irritated. "A-are you sure, Minami-chan?" Sakuno asked doubtfully.

"Well," Minami pondered. "I did hear you when you said that President and Mizuki had been dating back in middle-school, and everybody knows he's rejected every girl who confessed their feelings for him, so it seems like he never dates anyone else after Mizuki." Minami pressed her lips into a determined line. "Whatever the reason is, even if President really does still like Mizuki after all, I don't think I'll know my chances with him until I try."

Sakuno was silent for a moment. She glanced at Eri ahead of them, and she silently thought that maybe on the same basis Eri was still vying for a chance with Ryoma.

Even a long-married couple could divorce, who knew?

Sakuno smiled at Minami, although she began to get the same discomfiting, vaguely-unpleasant feeling like the one she'd gotten when Eri had told her that she had done "nothing" to help Ryoma play tennis again back then.

"I will support you." she told.

Minami smiled brightly and hugged Sakuno tight.

"Arigatou!" she chirped, then she looked curiously at her. "But ne, don't you have some tips for me? You got Ryoma-sama to yourself, after all."

Sakuno reddened.

"I—I don't know." she mumbled.

Minami sighed.

"I think so too."

**xXxOxOxXx**

Originally they had been busily discussing (as well as harrassing Takashi on his Sleeping Beauty pictures) about the possibility of Ryoma looking "beautiful" as Cinderella, but shortly they had been interrupted by Tezuka's voice outside the Tennis Club room.

Their buchou had actually _shouted _at their beloved Ochibi, his raised voice being heard quite audibly by them, freezing them from their activities.

Although they had failed to catch the whole conversation—and hence the gist of it—there had definitely been a fight between the two; despite the fact that they hadn't heard Ryoma's voice, since they knew he'd highly-likely merely responded Tezuka in his typical monotonic voice, replying a number of flat lines before walking away.

Eiji was still pissed off at Tezuka for shouting at their beloved Ochibi, nevertheless.

"Maybe we should give Ryoma time to cool off." Momoshiro suggested, relatively repeating Oishi's words.

"Nya! We've to make sure Ochibi's alright!" Eiji insisted, stubbornly repeating his own words.

"I don't think he's going to appreciate our effort looking for him, anyway." Kaidoh contributed.

"Nya! You're so mean!"

Just as Kaidoh was attacked by Eiji, Fuji pointed with his finger to somewhere ahead of them.

"There he is."

They turned, seeing Ryoma loitering next to a large trunk of a shady tree close to the school's old storeroom, watching a group of other students—one of which was Sakuno, they could identify—who were currently gathering in front of the run-down building, with boxes and a few items scattering on the grasses nearby.

A short-haired girl was standing nervously in front of a black-haired boy, who they recognized to be the one who'd come looking for Ryoma at the Tennis Club room a while back.

The entire Tennis Club regulars (minus Tezuka) moved surreptitiously closer (unwilling Kaidoh was being half-dragged to join by Momoshiro and Eiji), and in synchronize they crouched down behind a row of thick bushes a few steps behind the tree Ryoma was standing next to.

"Isn't that… Mizuki?"

"Who?"

"Er, no one."

"You have a fling with a junior, Momoshiro?" Oishi asked, his voice tinged with reproach.

"Was about a year ago." Momoshiro waved it off. "She'd just broken up with her boyfriend Shouta-something, and she just thought of me as someone to kill time with, anyway."

"Kobayashi Shouta."

"Huh?"

"That Mizuki girl you had a fling with, her ex-boyfriend's name is Kobayashi Shouta." Inui informed. His notebook opened in a flash in front of his face. "He's that black-haired boy the short-haired girl is facing right now."

"_Really_?"

"He's the second son to Kobayashi Akira, he has an older brother, an older sister and a pair of four-years-old twins; he usually gets number two in the academic chart; he knows several types of martial arts; he's been in the Kendo Club since middle-school, and he dated Aoi Mizuki some time after she became the Kendo Club's manager." Inui's glasses shone. "He's also an ex-member of a gang which still operates down in Roppongi." Inui closed his notebook. "His father owns two private hospitals, a chateau back in France, that Silver Creek Hotel in Akasaka—"

"—his Dad _owns _it?"

"—his father owns quite a lot more." Inui summarized. "Basically, Kobayashi Shouta is someone rich, smart, and physically-able."

"He just looks the gangster part to me." Kaidoh decided.

"Nya! Ochibi has a frightening opponent, after all!"

"Not to mention, if Ryoma has the looks, his opponent sure has them as well." Momoshiro pointed out.

"Interesting." Fuji remarked.

"But I don't think that boy has that kind of feeling for Ryuzaki." Inui analyzed, but he wasn't permitted to elaborate, when they all caught the short-haired girl yelling loudly,

"_I_—" she balled her hands into fists at her side, eyes shut firm. "—I like you! President!"

The Tennis Club regulars blinked.

Almost lazily Ryoma made a slow swing of his tennis racket, leaning one shoulder against the tree.

"_Eh_?" Eiji prompted.

**xXxOxOxXx**

Sakuno's mouth was slightly parted, her own hands held firmly together as they all waited for their class president to respond. She averted her eyes by chance and caught Ryoma standing under a tree just a short distance away, and he touched the brim of his cap in acknowledgement when their eyes met.

"Aren't you supposed to answer that, Shouta?" Azusa's voice chimed in, and they turned back to both Kobayashi and Minami.

"Let's talk on the way back to class." Kobayashi finally said, carrying the one box they had filled with items they thought suitable for the play.

"N-no." Minami responded, shaking her head when he turned to her. "I know that you've been turning down the other girls who confessed to you, President, so I don't mind to get my answer here." she smiled. "Or I wouldn't have confessed to you here."

Kobayashi seemed slightly surprised at her words, and he glanced briefly around at the watching eyes, before he frowned faintly, his fingers moving over the lower edge of the box he was holding.

"I'm sorry." he said, and Minami's smile brightened, although it seemed to be an understanding, admitting defeat smile rather than any other. "Thank you though, for what you said."

"At least I let you know about it." she heaved out a sigh, putting her hands at her back and leaning forward. "But ne, I will keep liking you until I found a much cuter guy. Don't regret it when I did, President." she winked.

Kobayashi smiled, and Sakuno couldn't help smiling as well.

"That's it?" Azusa asked, audibly disappointed. "It lacks drama." he commented.

"Takenouchi-kun always gets slapped or kicked after disappointing a girl." Minami teased.

"Well yes, I _am _a bit crushed that Shouta got none of those." he admitted.

"That's because Kobayashi is not like you." Eri quipped, and she immediately paused as silence immediately enveloped the atmosphere around them. All eyes turned to her. "What?" she asked defensively.

"You just backed Shouta up." Azusa pondered.

"I did not."

"I think you might just fall in love with Shouta." he shifted closer and whispered, "Why don't you stop falling for the wrong guy, Eri? Echizen is with Sakuno-san; it's so obvious that Shouta's heart is only for Mizuki… But I, Takenouchi Azusa, am here for you."

"What are you talking about now!"

While Kobayashi returned to the boxes and Eri shouted vehemently at Azusa (who looked amused at her reaction), Minami turned and ran to Sakuno and Kotoko, flinging her arms around them and dramatically sniffling.

"Kyaaa! I got rejected…!"

Kotoko ruffled her hair.

"At least you were brave." she comforted. "Stupid, but brave."

"You knew already that President's answer would be "No" didn't you?" Tomoka pondered, sighing as if lamenting her own fate. "I really have to think this through."

Apologetically, Sakuno patted Minami's shoulder while the girl wailed her "sorrow" out, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mizuki still standing where she'd been since minutes ago, her eyes fixed on Kobayashi.

Sakuno had the sudden urge to jump head first and fix what she always felt should've been fixed a long year ago.

She stepped away from Kotoko and Minami and made way to Mizuki, but she was whirled around when someone caught her wrist.

"R-Ryoma-kun."

"What are you doing now?" he asked, his right hand which wasn't holding his tennis racket winding around her waist.

"I-I want to…" Sakuno's voice lowered to a whisper. "D-did you know, Ryoma-kun, that Kobayashi-kun and Mizuki had been dating back in middle-school?"

"Before she left him after finding out that he also dated you?" Ryoma asked. Sakuno stared at him in surprise. "Horio talked about it a lot back when he heard it from some guys." he explained.

"B-but me and Kobayashi-kun dating was just a pretense."

"It was still stupid."

"I used to help at Uehara Obasan's restaurant back then, and there were these boys who always tried to follow me back when I went home at night," Sakuno reported miserably. "Kobayashi-kun was around then, he was still—"

"—in that gang."

"Y-yes. And one night they… Had a fight because of me."

"That pervert fought for you." Ryoma deadpanned, and it hardly sounded like a question; more like a statement filled with distaste. And jealousy.

"H-he was helping me." Sakuno murmured. "He told the boys to stay out."

"And that you were his girlfriend." Ryoma cleared up. Sakuno nodded, and he put his hand on top of her head, squeezing until Sakuno squealed as her hair was being messed up. "And since that night he accompanied you from that restaurant to home. Until somehow, words got to Aoi."

"M-Mizuki-san was furious."

"I'm furious."

"Ryoma-kun," Sakuno pleaded.

"She wouldn't listen to what that pervert had to say, would she?"

"N-no." Sakuno sniffled. "A-and she wouldn't listen to me when I tried to explain, either."

"She looks like someone who acts that way." Ryoma summarized.

"Mizuki-san quitted being the Kendo Club manager and from the look she gave us, I think she really hated Kobayashi-kun and me." Sakuno whispered. "B-but even though it was because of me, Kobayashi-kun never mentioned anything about it."

Ryoma's hand stopped the torture it was inflicting on Sakuno's head. He lowered it to touch her cheek.

"It was that pervert's own fault." he said. "That pervert was the one who decided to help you, saying you were his girlfriend without thinking, and then not telling Aoi what he'd been doing."

"E-every night it was just a walk home. That was all we ever did together." Sakuno frowned anxiously.

"So you would like it if I do it to some random girl?" Ryoma prompted.

Sakuno blinked.

She shook her head quickly, eyes shut tight.

"I'm so stupid." she mumbled, and Eri turned in time to see Ryoma pulling her head to his chest.

Azusa moved to her.

"Echizen might not want you." he said. "But I do."

"Doesn't solve a thing." Eri retorted bluntly. "I don't want you." she turned and walked away.

Azusa sighed and put an arm on Kotoko's shoulder as she passed by.

"Help me get back to class Kotoko-san, will you?" he asked.

"Have you lost the game?"

"This round it feels like it, but Eri's not Shouta, and I'm not Minami-chan." he smiled.

Kotoko looked at him intently.

"Do you need someone to cheer you up?" she asked.

"If you'll do it."

"100 yen per hour."

Chuckling, Azusa leaned down close to her, and he smiled almost meaningfully.

"If you take those glasses off, I'll bet you'll look even cuter." he whispered.

Kotoko fixed her glasses, looking back into his eyes with a completely calm expression.

"Good idea." she replied. "That way I won't be able to see your annoying face anymore."

"_Ouch_."

**xXxOxOxXx**

Oishi patted Eiji's shoulder.

"I'll say Ryoma is fine," he said.

"Nya, he does look so." Eiji murmured, before a bright smile broke over his face. "Let's go see whether Tezuka is alright now!"

"I'm out." Kaidoh decided.

"Nya meanie! You've got to come!"

The ruckus started all over again, until it was quickly—and efficiently—stopped by both Momoshiro and Fuji, who clamped their hands over Eiji and Kaidoh's mouth, pulling them back when the remaining of the students—the victims of their spying—turned to their direction, searching for the rustling sound coming from the thick bushes.

"Let's call it a day, shouldn't we?" Fuji suggested with a smile.

They waited until the last of the students left—Kobayashi had disappeared with the heavy box in which they had compiled all things they'd decided suitable for the play; Eri had gone the other way, Ryoma and Sakuno another, while Azusa and Kotoko were walking in the direction of their class—before the Tennis Club regulars finally extricated themselves from their hiding place.

Momoshiro watched the remaining girls as they departed, with Mizuki leading the way.

"Ah well." he lamented.

"What could that mean?" Fuji prompted.

"Nya! Stop looking at that junior! You said you were keeping an eye on An!"

"Tachibana An and Aoi Mizuki have quite the same personality, save for Aoi's rash attitude." Inui remarked.

"That's _your_ kind of girl?" Kaidoh scoffed.

"Just keep your mouth taped, viper, for someone pathetically amateur on things like these."

"What did you say?"

"Nya! Let's go check out on Tezuka already!"

Oishi sighed and shook his head when the disturbance increased to a crescendo, while Takashi was only grateful that they seemed to have forgotten about his Sleeping Beauty incident.

**xXxOxOxXx**

Tomoka and Minami had several times urged to know—while Kotoko had sat there with them wearing the same inquiring look—whether Sakuno and their Ryoma-sama had actually reached "that point" in their relationship; the point past "holding hands" and "kissing" and "cuddling" points, above all else.

Sakuno found it very—extremely—hard to respond to that kind of… private… question. She had several times heard from the other girls at class, who'd mentioned words such as "my first time" and "really scary" and "he was gentle" and the like, but every time when the topic was brought up, Sakuno would automatically practically turned into a stone—or a turtle who retreated back into its shell—and she would sit quietly in her chair, listening and fidgeting with the hem of her skirt as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

Due to her excessive shy nature and the fact that she would turn extraordinarily red every time confronted with the subject, Tomoka and Minami—while Kotoko had decided not to put any assumption—had made a conclusion that Sakuno and their Ryoma-sama had only safely gone as far as the "cuddling" point.

Sakuno had made no comment on that conclusion her friends had made.

Even though she knew they had concluded _wrong_.

"Watch where you're touching," Ryoma's voice froze Sakuno's fingers as they fumbled with the lowest buttons of his school shirt. He cupped her cheek and brought her mouth to his, flickering his tongue over her lower lip before slipping inside, and Sakuno shuddered as he explored and sucked every crevice, his warm, hot breath mingling with her own. "Step back." he whispered into her mouth, his voice slightly hoarse, and she was aware of how her own breath was turning heavy.

Sakuno obeyed and stepped backward until her back was pressed firmly against the wall, and Ryoma lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist, but she suddenly was—again—attacked by a rush of overwhelming embarrassment that she failed to do the simplest thing such as unzipping his trousers.

"Are you trying to injure it?" he asked.

Sakuno flushed darker.

"T-the zip's stuck." she whispered breathlessly.

Ryoma moved to bury his face into her neck, trailing hot, openmouthed kisses down her neckline. She shivered when he nibbled and teased at the sensitive part of her earlobe, her breath hitching when his right hand slipped into her school blouse from behind, sensually pressing his palm all the way on her back.

"Just pull it down." he whispered against her neck. "Like this."

He unhooked her bra before starting to unbutton her blouse, and Sakuno clutched at his shoulder with one hand, her other hand still struggling at the front side of his trousers.

With trembling fingers, she tugged down the zip so hard that it made a distinctive _wizzed!_ sound.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno's eyes snapped opened.

"I think you've ripped it." Ryoma informed. "How am I going to walk out with my zip opened like that?"

Sakuno bit her lip anxiously.

"L-later I'll get you your shorts… From your club room." she murmured.

"And let those annoying people inside it know what happened to me?"

"W-well—"

Ryoma didn't wait for another word. He captured her mouth again, his hand pressed firmly at the back of her head as his fingers played with the strands of her hair, and when her blouse was finally discarded, Sakuno at last managed to push his school shirt off of his shoulders, after which it was dropped as carelessly as her blouse had been to the floor.

They were pressed nearly skin-to-skin save for Sakuno's skirt and Ryoma's loosely-hanging trousers, and the empty classroom seemed to have turned sweltering and humid when it had been relatively cool and breezy just a moment ago, with the windows opened and the cream-colored curtains blowing lightly by the winds.

One arm draped around Sakuno's back, Ryoma carried her to the floor and kicked off his shoes, lowering himself on top of her.

But the front door was suddenly pushed opened—which they _thought_ had really been locked—and a boy and a girl stumbled inside, the girl giggling girlishly.

The four of them froze when they caught each other.

Sakuno whimpered and hid her face into Ryoma's shoulder, while he covered her fully with his own shirtless body.

"What the hell." he said, frowning at the interrupting couple.

"Uh," the boy brought his hand up to cover the girl's eyes, whose giggles broke even delightedly at the scene. "Oh god," the boy muttered. "Usually—"

"Get out."

"Uh, yeah, yeah sure." the boy pulled the girl's hand and hastily headed for the door. "Sorry!" he yelled back as they stepped out the hallway. "Usually it was _our _place!"

Ryoma pressed a firm kiss on the side of Sakuno's forehead.

"They're gone." he mouthed.

"L-lock the door first, Ryoma-kun."

"I can't."

"Y-you can't?"

"It's urgent."

And as Ryoma leaned down to her, Sakuno added it to the list of activities her friends always expected she would never do; that was, partaking in something as risky and "thrilling" (as Tomoka had put it) as making out at a place where anybody might just walk in at anytime during the moment.

.

.

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* * *

**Author's Note:**

First, thank you to those who have reviewed, alerted and favorited this story. I apologize that I haven't been able to update as fast and more frequently as you might've liked. Real life can be unforgiving in eating away the 24 hours you have, as you can probably relate to yourself.

Second, I've wanted to bring this up last chapter, but I just forgot. Please, check out my story "Second Time Around" if you'd like to try something different. Or at least, I'm aiming for something different with it. It's RyomaXSakuno.

Third, I noticed that several times in last chapter, I misspelled Hoshizaki Kyohara's name, but none of us (including me, until some time later) seemed to notice. We're sorry, Hoshizaki Kyohara-kun.

Fourth, the next installment will come early in April, because a final examination of mine will start on March 21 and end on March 24, so I'm giving way to it first. I'll also have at least a month free from the mundane routine of lectures and classes after that, and I'll divide that free time to playing, revising my studies, and writing.

That's it I think. See you in April, wish me luck, :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Bad Boy**

Chapter Twelve

"Intertwined"

* * *

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They sat on the cemented floor under a desk situated directly beneath a window, Ryoma's back leaning against the wall with Sakuno tucked close to him, sitting between his legs which he stretched out on the floor, her back pressed to his chest.

Her mobile phone's screen flickered into life in Ryoma's right hand, but Sakuno blinked slowly at the images that began to form.

"It's the video of our last year at middle-school." she murmured, her eyes and her voice heavy with sleep. "It was filmed by Kotoko and Shiraishi-kun."

"Yu Shiraishi?" Ryoma asked. Sakuno's head nodded against him. "Isn't he dead?"

"Shiraishi-kun died two days after the filming was finished." Sakuno confirmed. She smiled sadly with a mild frown. "Kotoko liked him." she whispered. "She confessed to him on the last day they worked together. Shiraishi-kun smiled at her and thanked her… And then two days later we all heard about his death."

Ryoma didn't make a comment. None of them in the class back then had known that the reason why Yu Shiraishi had rarely come to school that year was because he'd been sick, and they'd only discovered that fact on the day when they'd watched the completed video together in the classroom. During the display, one of the boys had received a text message from Yu Shiraishi's younger sister, telling them that her brother's condition had worsened the previous night at the hospital, and he'd passed away.

"Kotoko-san must've been sad." Ryoma finally spoke again.

Sakuno glanced up at him, noting it was the first time that Ryoma was remembering her friend's name. Although she wasn't certain if he would still remember it an hour later.

"Kotoko never said anything about Shiraishi-kun after that." Sakuno said. "We went to his funeral, but she didn't say anything about him; not then, not now. It's like her confession to him never happened. Like Shiraishi-kun was just another classmate."

"Some people find things hard to be put into words." Ryoma responded absently.

Sakuno blinked at what he'd just said, and again she glanced up at him. But his brown eyes were fixed on the screen of her mobile phone, his attention captured by the various acts their classmates—some ex-classmates now—were performing in front of the camera. Horio's voice could be heard distinctly several times above the din made by him and the other boys. Sakuno glanced at the mobile phone, looking into the screen to see the late Yu Shiraishi waving with a friendly smile at them as he stood next to a disheveled-haired Kobayashi Shouta.

"_What happened to your forehead?" Shiraishi interviewed, pointing at the patch of plaster which adorned the left side of Kobayashi's forehead. The black-haired boy didn't answer and simply glared, his jaw clenched in irritation. Unperturbed, Shiraishi turned to the front of the class, and the camera shifted from him to fall on Aoi Mizuki. "Mizuki-san, will you tell us what happened to your subordinate's forehead?"_

"_She hit him with a frying pan!" one of the boys shouted, followed by giggles and howls of laughter._

"_He got into a fight with a stray cat!" chipped in another._

_Mizuki threw the boys a nasty look._

"_Shouta got injured during Kendo practice." she replied heatedly._

"_Awwww! She's defending her scary boyfriend! How sweet…!" gushed a few boys, rushing to fill the view of the camera and dramatically hugging each other, swaying from side to side, provoking Mizuki's annoyed yelling and one of Kobayashi's shoes—which he flung toward the group of boys, narrowly flying past one of them over the head._

_The camera returned to Kobayashi, only to be pushed away by his hand._

"_I've nothing to say." he said._

"_Don't be like that. You're the only one not camera-friendly here, Shouta." Shiraishi persuaded, but then the camera turned direction, falling on Ryoma who sat at his desk beside the window. Some of the students laughed, joined in by Kotoko—who was holding the camera—as Ryoma stared blankly back at the camera which focused in on him. "Alright, we've got two camera-unfriendly people here." Shiraishi's voice corrected. "Come on Shouta, Ryoma, smile for me."_

"_Why?" Ryoma and Kobayashi asked tonelessly, faint annoyance in their voice._

"_Because I look exceptionally adorable today…!" Shiraishi declared, throwing his hands up cheerfully in the air._

_Poker-faced, both Ryoma and Kobayashi turned away, ignoring the shameless exclamation._

_The classroom was immediately filled with laughter from their classmates, some of the boys booing Shiraishi and one chucking the shoe which Kobayashi had thrown earlier at him._

"_That was a very bad joke, Shiraishi-kun." Kotoko's amused voice remarked from behind the camera._

_"Really_? _I'm not adorable?"_

"_You wear red contact lenses, and you have purple hair." Kotoko pointed out._

_Shiraishi grinned._

"_Some people are different, but that's what makes them adorable. Or at least, I believe it, because that's what makes me adorable." he excused, pointing at another direction. The camera moved away from his red eyes and purple hair to focus on Tomoka, Sakuno and Minami who gathered at the same table. "Anything to say, ladies?" Shiraishi's voice asked teasingly. "You can make your love confession to somebody you like if you want, and we can go outside if that somebody is here in this classroom." he offered, and the camera singled out Sakuno from her two giggling friends._

"Ryoma-kun." Sakuno murmured with a reddening face when she heard Ryoma snort softly above her head. She frowned when she saw that herself in the video was also turning red. Encouragingly Shiraishi ruffled her hair, and Sakuno remembered again how he'd liked to do it to the girls, probably in the same way he'd always done to his younger sister. Sakuno sighed, leaning her head to rest on Ryoma's chest. "That was the last day we saw him. He looked fine, didn't he, Ryoma-kun?"

"As annoying as always." Ryoma confirmed.

"I thought Shiraishi-kun liked Kotoko too, even Tomoka and Minami said so. If it was true, maybe Shiraishi-kun should've told Kotoko why he couldn't accept her back then." Sakuno pondered as both of them kept their eyes on the screen of her mobile phone. "He just smiled and thanked her for her confession, and rejected her." she recalled. "Even though he did it all kindly, I think it hurt Kotoko a lot to suddenly find out the truth afterward."

"You think it would've turned out any differently if he'd told Kotoko-san he couldn't accept her because he had terminal cancer and was about to die?" Ryoma asked.

"Maybe Kotoko wouldn't have looked… That much in pain when she heard about his death in the classroom when we watched the video together. It was… So sudden. Nobody expected it."

Ryoma kissed the top of Sakuno's head.

"You're upsetting yourself by thinking too much." he told. "As much as you'd like to see a happy ending between him and Kotoko-san, Shiraishi's gone. The least we can do is pray that he rest in peace." Ryoma exited the video and reached his right hand out over the desk under which they sat, feeling for the green strips of Sakuno's hair ribbons which had been left on it.

Sakuno sniffled and rubbed her teary eyes with her fists. She knew she was upsetting herself by thinking too much, getting sad over something in the past which she—no one—could do anything about.

"But still," Sakuno murmured. "If something that important happens to someone I like… I would want to know it. Even if it might not be easy to say, I would want to know his pain."

Ryoma's fingers which had just taken a full grasp of Sakuno's hair to be tied froze mid-way.

He gazed down at her as she carefully put her mobile phone into its glittery green pouch. After a second he opened his mouth a little hesitantly, unsure on how to put what he was about to say into words.

But before he could speak, Sakuno's mobile phone emitted the familiar melody of a song—which Ryoma didn't bother to figure what name—that signed the arrival of a new text message, and Ryoma held back. He closed his mouth again and returned to his task of tying her long hair with the green ribbons.

Sakuno pulled out her mobile phone, reading the text message which came from—

_Tezuka-senpai?_ She blinked.

"_Sorry for disturbing. Will you meet me at the laboratories' building fifteen minutes later?"_

The text message said.

Sakuno chewed her lower lip anxiously. She knew Ryoma hadn't seen it, and she wondered if she should tell him.

She decided against it—because she hadn't any clue what it was that Kunimitsu Tezuka wanted with her, and because such an incident had never happened before—Sakuno pushed her mobile phone into the green pouch again, frowning mildly in deep thought.

**xXxOxOxXx**

"That was terrible."

"It was."

"I think you've blown any chances on getting back with him off this time."

"It's been about a year, anyway. We don't know for sure if he still has feelings for her."

"Of course he still does. He hasn't dated any girl after breaking up with her. Not a single one."

Rie pursed her lips.

"Maybe Shouta-kun's just traumatized and is afraid to date again?" she suggested.

"Are you kidding? Shouta-kun isn't weak! And there isn't a lot of girls as stubborn and arrogant and bossy as Mizuki, anyway." Chitose argued.

Listening to the two girls' heated debate—about _her_, nonetheless—Mizuki frowned. But then she'd known Rie and Chitose long enough to know that they weren't afraid to list every bad thing about her in her face as if she was entirely invisible, despite the fact that she was sitting right there between the two of them at the table.

On the bright side, at least she knew her friends didn't talk bad things about her _behind_ her back, which Mizuki took—all things considered—to be tolerably acceptable.

She'd told them how she'd mistakenly blurted out some… Harsh words to Shouta back at the old storeroom. But Rie and Chitose hadn't been surprised about it.

They too had known Mizuki long enough to know that she was someone rash—admitedly, sometimes to the point where it brought troubles to herself. Another time, to the point where she lost the boy she really liked.

"_You're prejudice, stubborn, arrogant, too afraid of getting hurt that you lash out at people to defend yourself without thinking through if they really want to hurt you. To put it simple, you're quite difficult." _Momoshiro Takeshi had once told Mizuki (he was yet another person who hadn't been afraid to spit all her faults into her face). _"But you're not necessarily hopeless."_ he had added with a smile in the end, but up to this day Mizuki didn't believe she was any different than before.

Shaking her head, Mizuki slammed the table to get the girls' attention.

"I didn't tell you about what happened to hear your analysis on me." she told irritably. "I'm—" she faltered, uncomfortable at the way Rie and Chitose were staring expectantly at her. "—I'm… Hoping that you'll… Give me some suggestions." she muttered.

"Oh?" Rie's smile lit up. "It's easy."

"It is?" Mizuki asked slowly, skeptical. "What do I have to do?"

"Something you should've done a long year ago." Chitose informed.

Both girls turned their eyes square on Mizuki's face.

"Go find Shouta-kun, apologize, and tell him that you want to get back with him." they said in perfect unison. "_Now_."

**xXxOxOxXx**

The spacious art room situated at the farthest end of the building's fourth floor was painted pure. Drawings from the students, teachers, and several local artistes hung on its pristine off-white walls, while gleaming black shelves and cupboards lining up the walls were ornamented with slender vases and clay figurines in various shapes.

At one corner of the room, multiple already-painted canvases stood displaying beautiful drawings. In the middle of the room, a grand piano perched majestically; its polished, deep-brown body glistening by the sunrays that peeked through the thin, pastel-blue curtains which rustled softly in the wind at the opened windows.

Azusa sat on the magenta couch across from where Kotoko was sitting at a stool. Her back was facing him, her attention fixed on the white canvas in front of her, which depicted the view of a serene valley; a lush stream of water gushed forth from an opening under a large boulder on a mountain, where a lone mermaid sat looking out over the valley below. The expression on the mermaid's delicate face was that of hope; perhaps searching for someone's face, in the crowded and too-far-away, busy street of the valley.

Kotoko bent closer to her drawing, briefly pushing up her glasses as they slid down her nose. Her long, dark hair spilled past one shoulder to cover the side of her face when she moved, and she pushed the strands back over her ear almost subconsciously, intent on her task.

Azusa smiled.

"Like I said, you'll look even cuter without your glasses, Kotoko-san." he remarked.

She didn't give him as much as a shift in response.

Drumming his fingers on the couch's arm, Azusa looked around at the other standing canvases, and his eyes stopped for the second time on the grand piano placed in the middle of the room.

Slowly his fingers wrapped around the couch's arm, firmly, then tighter, as he felt the familiar vines of anger and dissatisfaction seep into his veins.

Kotoko glanced back as she reached for another paintbrush at a low table beside her canvas stand, but she paused when she caught the expression on Azusa's face. He'd never had that kind of look on him before; he'd always been the careless, laidback, smiling player in their class.

But now he looked like all he wanted to do was to smash something into pieces.

Particularly the piano he was currently staring at.

"That piano is really expensive." Kotoko said, and she could see that Azusa startled at her sudden voice. He turned his eyes from the piano to her, his expression distant, as if he was still not quite awake. "It's a gift from President's father."

"Shouta's Dad?"

"Yes."

Azusa didn't make a comment. He watched as Kotoko turned to her drawing again, with a paintbrush tucked at her ear.

He leaned his head back on the couch and stared blankly at the white ceiling above.

"_Doesn't solve a thing."_ Eri's voice resounded in his mind. _"I don't want you."_

It wasn't exactly something he'd like to be reminded of, but it brought his thoughts away from crashing the grand piano into shambles.

He snorted softly, smiling as he replayed the withering look Eri had thrown at him along with her response. It was officially the first time he'd received that kind of an answer from a girl.

He was a player—he'd admit to that—and throughout his "career" it was only twice that he'd been unlucky to be turned down by the girls he'd put some efforts in. The first time had been with Aoi Mizuki; who'd ignored him completely as she'd seen only Kobayashi Shouta. The second time was, no doubt now, Okumura Eri.

But maybe, the fact that she had been using him—aside from rejecting him—and the fact that it was the first time he had been used—even though it had been mutual at the beginning, as they had both agreed that they were spending time with each other out of of pleasure; no strings attached—but maybe, he wondered, that was what had slowly drawn him in.

Azusa suspected it was more than just "drawing in" matter. It was a "trap" he'd read and heard and watched—as well as laughed at and ridiculed—too many times before in fictions; the movies, the books, where the plot was generally about a player who had it all slamming back into his face when he found a girl who simply wouldn't relent to him.

A girl who was different from those he'd met before.

A girl who knew how to play the game just as well as he did.

A girl who, in some of the fictions, no matter how hard he tried and no matter how much he wanted her to, simply would never be his.

Azusa closed his eyes and pressed one palm over his forehead, letting out a long, audible sigh as he smiled in irony at the turn of event.

His left hand which stretched out over the couch's arm touched something, and he turned, opening his eyes to see a sketchbook with underwater view cover lying on the side table.

The name _Miyahara Kotoko_ was written neatly in Katakana at the upper right side of the cover.

Azusa took the sketchbook and turned to the first page.

He blinked in surprise.

It was the sketching of Yu Shiraishi's image; a friendly, cheerful—and sometimes crazy—boy in their class who had died from cancer back a year ago.

Azusa remembered how Shiraishi had showed up at school with purple hair and a pair of red contact lenses in his eyes the day after one of their classmates had called him, informing that he'd been picked to work with Kotoko to do the filming of their class video for a tribute to their last year as middle-schoolers. Shiraishi had rarely come to school that year—sometimes being absent for one whole week. Even though it had been obvious that the teachers had known something, none of them had probed the matter further as when being asked, Shiraishi had always waved it off as if he'd been skipping school simply out of boredom—the way some of the other students had done.

Silently Azusa turned to the second page of the sketchbook, the third page, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth…

But they were all the sketching of Yu Shiraishi's images.

The time when he'd sat at his desk beside the window at the back of the classroom, gazing out over the sky with a pencil twirling between his fingers.

The time when he'd scored a goal for his team at the school's football field, the number on the back of his shirt clearly outlined.

The time when he'd worn a pair of rabbit ears and stood on the teacher's desk, using the broomstick as a "guitar" to be plucked, singing out-of-tune on the day their class had thrown a party to celebrate their homeroom teacher's birthday.

Too much.

The sketches were of various occasions, all of them depicting nothing but Yu Shiraishi's images, as if the one who had drawn them was trying to transfer all the memories involving him into papers, capturing and clinging to every little flash of him so that he would never fade.

Before Azusa could turn to the next page, someone snatched the sketchbook abruptly from his hand, and he looked up to see Kotoko standing in front of him.

She stared at him with an expression that was a mix of anger and pain.

Surprised, Azusa stared back, his eyes locked to Kotoko's own; her glasses no longer worn over her face.

"Who gave you permission to look through my things?" she asked in a shaky voice.

Before Azusa could answer, she stormed past him with the sketchbook clutched tightly in her hand. In the blink of an eye she was out of the art room, leaving him alone with the canvases, the flowers that sat still in slender vases lined on top of furniture, and the piano.

**xXxOxOxXx**

The large, bushy tree shadowed them from the glaring sun overhead.

The stone bench pressed cold against the side of Sakuno's legs. She fidgeted with the folds of her skirt in her lap, waiting anxiously—since five completely silent minutes ago—for Ryoma's buchou to open his mouth and get this "meeting" over and done with.

She had thought the day when Ryoma had first kissed her (at the hospital, in his striped pajama patient shirt in his ward) to be the day when her heart had almost burst out of her chest. But today the mere knowledge that she was sitting alone on a bench under a tree near the school's laboratories building with no other than Kunimitsu Tezuka, the experience was proving to be _scarier_ than riding a roller coaster without the seat belt on.

Of course, not that she had actually tried it.

But still Sakuno suspected if Ryoma's buchou wouldn't start talking soon, she might suffer from a stroke or a heart attack—or both.

"I've been giving it some thoughts, really." out of the blue, Tezuka broke the stillness in the air. Unprepared, Sakuno jumped at the sound of his voice despite that it was calm and monotonous. He stared at her through his glasses as her hand flew to her chest. "Is it too chilly here?" he asked. "Maybe we should go elsewhere—"

"—n-no." Sakuno shook her head, smiling weakly. "I'm fine, senpai. You can go on."

Tezuka stared for some other seconds, then he fixed his glasses almost awkwardly.

"I don't know how to explain this to you." he confessed. "I had thought it would probably be better that Ryoma come back to the team willingly on his own. I had let him lag behind because I had thought it would be better if he take some time off—your grandmother had agreed, his father—" Tezuka paused. "—his father had shrugged, but I took that as a positive sign of agreement." he blinked, and Sakuno smiled.

"You trusted Ryoma-kun to bring himself back up. I get that, senpai. I believed the same, I always will." she said, feeling gradually at ease.

Tezuka watched her for a moment, before a mild frown appeared on his face.

"So what's happening then?" he asked.

"What?" Sakuno frowned back, not understanding.

"Even though he said he was returning—and he is, now. He acts—" Tezuka searched for the right word. "—it's not the same. On the surface, he's doing good. To most people, he's doing good." he looked seriously at Sakuno. "But if he keeps going that way… To put it simple for you; he won't keep winning for long."

At his words, Sakuno felt herself slowly tense. The comfortable feeling gradually turned into alarm and uneasiness.

"I don't understand… What you're saying, senpai." she said. _On the surface, he was doing good. To most people, he was doing good._ "What do you mean… By all those words?"

"You don't know?" Tezuka asked in return, as surprised as Sakuno at the confused, afraid look she was giving him. "Didn't you notice how he acted before his match at the mock game began? He shook. He wasn't exactly as confident as he seemed then. I think he's scared of tennis." Tezuka watched her. "You really… Have no idea?" he asked, but as Sakuno's eyes widened and her expression entirely changed, he shook his head and straightened. "I'm sorry, maybe this isn't the right thing to do. Maybe I shouldn't have—"

"—_scared._" Sakuno repeated in a whisper. "Y-you must've been mistaken, senpai. Ryoma-kun isn't scared of tennis. He… He can't be. He seems fine. It doesn't… Even make sense."

Tezuka didn't say anything to contradict her.

Yet Sakuno knew who was the one who'd been mistaken.

**xXxOxOxXx**

The snickers and the snorts of laughter that came from the boys and girls who milled the hallway across from the vending machine made Eri turn to their direction.

She sauntered to them, tilting her head to a side with a smile.

"Mind sharing what was so funny?" she prompted.

One of the boys—her own classmate—grinned sheepishly.

"About an hour ago Yazawa and Fumi walked into a classroom where Ryoma and Ryuzaki-san were making out." he told.

"I really thought Echizen was going to beat me up." Yazawa sighed in relief, his arm draped over a giggling girl's shoulder.

"He looked really good without his shirt." she fuelled, and as Yazawa threw an offended look at her, she smiled up at him. "I like you without your shirt, too." she amended.

"You better do." Yazawa grumbled.

The rest of them laughed and joked about it, but Eri stood motionless where she was. Her blood froze at the moment that what the students had just talked about registered into her brains.

It shouldn't have been surprising. At the school it was a fact well known that Echizen Ryoma and Ryuzaki Sakuno were lovers, a couple; that they had been dating for about three months now. It shouldn't have been surprising at all that they were sleeping with each other.

But it hit Eri like a full force slap in the face.

It was only then that it truly dawned on her.

Ryuzaki Sakuno could have all of Ryoma—his smile, his attention, his arms around her, his body lying next to her on the same bed; his _heart_—because of the significance that he was her _boyfriend_. Ryuzaki Sakuno could have _all_ of Ryoma to her own, as easily as if he chose to give them to her.

And the mere thought of it made Eri sick to the stomach.

She turned and stormed from the hallway, ignoring the voices of some of the boys who called her name.

The sheer anger, the dissatisfaction, the jealousy, the frustration and the pain all came crashing down on her stronger than they ever had. They mixed and shoved and clawed at her insides until her breath came out hard and heavy from the swirling emotions. Her hands clenched into fists, her jaw set tight.

She hadn't moved all the way from America to Japan to _watch _Echizen Ryoma taken away from her.

Eri's vision blurred by tears that welled in her eyes. She stalked to the right turn of the empty corridor, and bumped straight into a hard wall of someone's chest.

"Watch where you're going, Okumura." Kobayashi Shouta's voice spoke from above her head, catching Eri by the arm as she staggered backward. She looked up fiercely at him, but he blinked back in surprise. "Why are you crying?" he asked.

"That's none of your bloody business." Eri spat. She wiped the back of her hand over her eyes, but when she tried to sidestep him, Kobayashi pulled at her arm again.

"Are you sure you're alright?" the class president asked.

Eri threw a dirty look at him.

"Why, you're such a busybody. You must've cared too much about other people that Mizuki got fed up with it." she shot vehemently.

Kobayashi went quiet.

At the flicker of hurt that crossed his face, Eri somehow realized that she simply wanted to vent out her broiling frustrations—and how she was venting them out at the wrong person.

Kobayashi's fingers loosened from around her arm.

"I take that as you're fine." he said.

Eri swallowed.

"Wait," she pulled at the back of his jumper. "I didn't mean that."

Kobayashi glanced back at her shorter figure, staring blankly. Eri frowned, waiting for a response.

"S' fine." he retorted. "You got me suspended, you stole my bubblegum. I'm quite used to being bullied by you now." he said.

Eri couldn't fight off a smile.

She reached a hand up to touch the strands of hair that hung almost to his eyes. She pressed her palm up against his forehead, pushing his bang up.

Kobayashi Shouta really _was_ good-looking, she realized thoughtfully.

They stood in the hallway in front of each other, Eri looking up at the class president with a smile.

"Mizuki is stupid for not appreciating you." she said, shrugging when Kobayashi raised an eyebrow at the—more or less—compliment. Slowly she lowered her hand to his chest, pressing firmly until she could feel the rhythmic beating of his heart against her palm. "If a guy like you would be here for me, I _might_ just let go." she whispered.

Kobayashi watched her silently.

"I think Azusa really likes you." he said after a while.

"Maybe." Eri smiled bitterly. "Or maybe Azusa thinks he likes me but it's really just the thrill of it. He never got rejected before, and now because I'm the first girl to refuse him, to use him and to throw him away like he's thrown away many other girls before… He became interested in me." Eri presumed. "And if that's true, then Azusa's feelings for me will wear off some time after I bow to him." she looked at Kobayashi. "They're not real feelings like the ones you keep all this time for Mizuki."

"I see." the class president said. "But you don't really know that, do you? How could you know how Azusa feels better than himself?"

"Common sense."

"That's no guarantee that you're actually right." Kobayashi shook his head when Eri opened her mouth to argue. "You might get me suspended again for saying this, but I'm still saying it; whatever it was you once had with Echizen Ryoma—if my limited observation is right—it seems to have ended to me; it's over. He's with Ryuzaki Sakuno now, and if you keep going the way you're intending to, one day you'll hurt not just yourself—"

Eri cut him off when she pressed her lips to his.

Kobayashi froze.

One hand still laid to his chest, Eri closed her eyes and brought her other hand to hold his cheek, standing on her tiptoes to reach his height. It took a few seconds, but slowly after a few seconds as if the shock was finally washed away from him, Kobayashi moved again.

He leaned in to the kiss and returned it.

Across from them in the long corridor a mere few meters away, Mizuki stood frozen at the sight.

She'd never wondered too much about it before, perhaps because her friends had been claiming it over and over that she became confident they were right. She'd never wondered before if there was still a chance for her and Kobayashi Shouta to get back together. Because her friends had claimed he still liked her over and over and she'd seen for herself how he'd kept turning down girls who'd confessed their feelings for him.

But now that she watched how his hand moved to hold Okumura Eri's face, gently wiping away the tear stains from her cheek as he deepened the kiss, Mizuki pressed a hand to her mouth and cried; wondering if she had finally really lost Kobayashi Shouta to someone else.

**xXxOxOxXx**

Suddenly it felt quite strange.

When the sun had been shining fairly intense only seconds ago, the sky opened without so much as a warning and began to release rain in a tumultuous downpour.

Fast droplets pelted on the sidewalk and the open ground, ceaselessly, one after another, forcing the students and the teachers who had milled about to run for shelter to their school buildings, hands raised over their heads. The sky darkened, as if a large invisible blanket had slowly, quietly, wrapped its arms around earth in a protective coccoon.

Still Ryoma stood in front of the painted-blue wall a few blocks away from his class building and hit the tennis ball, repeatedly, swinging his tennis racket and focusing on just the right aim.

The yellow tennis ball thumped and thudded against the same spot on the wall, hard, over and over for as long as his fingers wrapped firmly around the tennis racket's padded handle, for as long as he kept swinging.

In the biting cold of the wind, his school uniform was drenched and he was soaked to the bone. Still Ryoma didn't stop. He knew Ryuzaki Sakuno would come running to find him some time soon after discovering he wasn't in the classroom or in the Tennis Club room, and he smiled as he imagined that familiar worried look she would have on her face.

It would involve a clumsily-held umbrella, stuttering, a terribly-concerned frown, as well as two ponytails—and not braids—which he had tied her hair into half an hour ago in that empty classroom.

Somewhere in the long corridor of the hallway where the first year students' voices could be heard from inside their classrooms and from where they loitered outside, Mizuki stopped in the doorway to their class, watching Shouta as he stood by the window, knowing that he stood looking out at Eri far below; her bookbag slung over one shoulder, her fingers wrapped around the handle of a black umbrella as she made way alone to the school's main gate.

Somewhere in an empty laboratory of the school, a Bunsen burner sat on a long table with flickering fire. A crumpled page torn from a sketchbook was held directly above the bluish flame. But at the same time that Azusa closed his eyes and laid his fingers on the keyboard of the piano in the art room, Kotoko withdrew her hand and carefully smoothed the crumpled paper on the long table; so that the smiling boy's face sketched onto it could be seen again.

Ryoma thought he heard the sound of a piano from somewhere in the large building behind which he stood. Although the hard downpour hindered the clear sound of the music from being heard; the slow, exquisite melody wafted beautifully outside from wherever it came.

But somehow, as the tennis racket moved in a vague hissing sound and the tennis ball slammed against the wall, somehow as he waited in the pouring rain, Ryoma thought it felt quite strange.

Almost as if she would never come.

.

.

.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Okay, okay, so I lied about updating in April. I mean, I had a little time (the time for sleep, but as I couldn't sleep...). My final exam is still coming so until then, I might or might not update again. Thank you for reading, reviewing, alerting, favoriting, everything?

P.S.: I hope you're still alive and hanging on, RaV, :)


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